Two Sides of the Same Coin
by tiger002
Summary: After the discovery of two ancient suits of armor, dark powers forgotten in the flow of time are revived. The heroes have saved the world twice, but will they make it through alive this time?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: And so this is yet another new adventure fic, but this one is co-written by my friend and roommate Xylek. With our strange minds working together, expect weird things to happen.**

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

Raine burst into the Sybak University, immediately running up the stairs and going through the door of the president's office. "Miss Sage, my door wasn't locked."

"I didn't have time to open the door! I had to tell you about this important discovery."

"And it was so important you removed the door from its hinges?" he said as he glanced to the piece of wood on the floor.

"Yes it was!" she replied with undying enthusiasm.

"What have you found?" the president said, wondering what could cause her to go this berserk. This was even more out of control than her normal Ruin Mode. Any one not used to it would think she needed mental help.

"When I was studying in the Temple of Ice, I came across this near Celsius' altar," she said as she pulled out of her back, a black helmet with blue trim."

"Is this what I think it is?" he said picking it up and examining it. He was fascinated by the intricate design of runes carved into the finely crafted metal.

"Yes, I believe it is the final piece of ancient armor. I also found an inscription near where the helm was buried which explains the history behind the armor."

"What did you discover?"

"Well Dr. Brown, it seems that this armor was crafted by the summon sprits themselves. This was made by the might of Shadow and Celsius. I hypothesize that the mana from the summon spirits could reawaken its power."

"I see, so with the helm infused with the power of ice, we would need to add in the power of darkness."

"Exactly, if we take the entire set of armor to Shadow's altar, the mana from that should restore it."

"I don't know. Miss Sage, it can be dangerous to meddle with the power of darkness. Are you sure this is worthwhile."

"And you call yourself a researcher?" Raine yelled, nearly jumping on top of his desk. "Those who want to learn the truth must learn to face the danger that comes!" She couldn't believe that that the president of the most prestigious institution in the world wouldn't jump at this new opportunity.

"Miss Raine, I assure you, we will do everything in our power to aid you in your research, but please calm down."

"I apologize for my outburst President, but this discovery could revolutionize everything that we know about summon spirits."

"I understand, but please try to be reasonable here. We've had difficulty researching in the temple in the past due to the monsters."

"I understand your concerns, but I'll send word to Sheena since she should be interested in this discovery, and I believe Lloyd is currently in Meltokio reporting to the king about his journey to get rid of the remaining ex-spheres. With them, the researchers should be safe."

"It appears that you have everything planned out."

"Of course, we can't allow carelessness when we are about to make a historical discovery."

"The possibilities are great, are they not?"

"Yes, just think about what we can learn if we can harness that power. That power could revolutionize the technology of the entire world."

"Raine, calm down," President Brown said seeing Raine had once again entered Ruin Mode, "I'll have the students gather the rest of the armor, and take it to the temple. Give us about a week and we should have everything ready."

"A week! How can we wait that long to revolutionize the world?"

"Because the students are home on vacation this week," President Brown calmly stated.

"In that case, I shall prepare the journey into the unknown in a week." Raine left the university and sat on the steps overlooking the vast ocean. Her mind raced with the many possibilities of what she could find. This might be the greatest discovery she had ever made. If only the armor could talk, how many ancient secrets could it tell? The half-elf leaned back and saw the blue sky begin to fade to black with the setting sun.

**A/N: As with most prologues, this one isn't too long, but it is the start to a great adventure. What secrets does the armor hold? Will Raine ever stop obsessing over ruins? Will Lloyd ever stop being an idiot? Will Genis be able to run a mile? Will Colette stop apologizing? Will Zelos stop being a perv? Will Sheena stop falling down holes? Will Presea ever show emotion? Will Regal ever cut is hair? Will Kratos ever stop being awesome? Some of those questions might be answered next time, so please review!**


	2. Chapter 2: Shadow of the Past

**Chapter 2: Shadow of the past**

"Let's begin the research!" Raine exclaimed as she and her less excited companions set out from the Tethe'alla capital for the temple. Sheena and Lloyd were joining her. The summoner was curious of what secrets the armor could hold. Even though she had made pacts with the many spirits, including Shadow who resided in the temple, she didn't know much about them. Lloyd on the other hand, was just happy to get away from those snooty nobles and their endless useless meetings. He could never wrap his mind on how they could spend so much time talking and so little time doing anything.

Their trek to the temple wasn't known for being the most exciting journey, causing the swordsman to ask a questions he would later regret. "What do you think we're going to find there, professor?" Lloyd asked.

"I don't know," Raine said, trying to rack the many thoughts going through her mind, "The armor reacts like it has been infused with magic, similar to the various magic swords, but there is something different about this."

"You realize you just set her off into ruin mode again," Sheena whispered to Lloyd as the professor continued unloading her vast amount of knowledge.

"Sorry," he whispered back as Raine entered a full-blown lecture. While her passion scared any nearby monsters away, the two humans had no choice but to endure the torture.

"The crafting of the armor indicates that it was made in either midway through the fifth age of the Cendorian Empire, or possibly during the decline of the seventh age."

"At least I brought these earplugs," Lloyd said, handing a pair to Sheena, allowing them to continue in peace, while the oblivious maniac shared her knowledge with nothing but the various trees and plants.

After a couple hours traveling, they finally saw the mountains that encased the temple. Raine had calmed down from her earlier lecture, so the other two thought they were safe. "Come on! We're almost there!" she exclaimed loud enough for Flanor to hear.

"Wait," Sheena said, stopping the group in their tracks. "We're not alone," she said softly, so only her companions could hear.

"You think someone's following us?" Lloyd asked.

"It's probably just a jealous archeologist wanting to steal credit for this discovery."

"All right!" Sheena yelled, "You have the count of five to reveal yourself or I will start throwing sharp objects."

"Whoa whoa, put those down my lovely banshee," a voice said as a red haired man came out of the bushes.

"Zelos! What are you doing here?" Sheena asked, wondering if she should still toss the various pointed weapons.

"I'm guessing he wants to hit on the students waiting for us up ahead," Raine said.

"Only if I can't get my first two choices," he said walking up to the group. The two females had gotten used to his comments long ago, but he had not become used to Sheena's response.

"I'll smack you!" Sheena said sending her foot into the chosen's stomach.

"You said smack, not kick!" he complained rising back from the ground.

"We'll have time for your bickering later," Raine said, trying to get the expedition back on track, "Now is the time to change the course of history!"

"Don't you think she's going a bit overboard?" Zelos said, once the half-elf was out of earshot.

"It's the professor, what do you expect?" the twin swordsman replied.

After about another hour of traveling, and Lloyd attempting to tune out all the information Raine was shoving into his brain, they finally arrived at the entrance. However, instead of the students waiting patiently as they had expected, they saw a number of monsters battling the students.

A student's blade clashed with the claw of a chimera, but the beast was too strong, sending the young warrior to the ground. Several of the students were wounded, while the others used their limited to self-defense knowledge to fend off the feriousios beasts.

"We have to help them!" Lloyd said running into battle. He pulled out his twin blades of fire and ice and charged at the creatures. Zelos pulled out his sword as Sheena readied her spell cards and the two joined the fray as well. Raine ran to the students and began charging her healing magic.

Lloyd jumped into the air, and came down, slicing a monster in half with his rising falcon attack. The red clad swordsman then turned and parried the claw from another monster, before slicing through it with his deft swordsmanship.

Zelos gathered the mana that filled the air into his blade, and thrust it into one of the fiends, striking it with lightning and steel. However, several other beasts soon surrounded him, but the magic swordsman leapt through the air, slicing through the monsters all around him with his light spear attack. The wounded monsters were sent flying, many of them colliding into the side of the mountains.

Sheena deftly dodged the claws of the enemies, while pounding them with her various seals. The ninja struck a group of them with her Cyclone seal, tossing them into the air. She then saw a monster charge at a student, but blew the fiend away in a burst of light with her demon seal, stopping it from harming any more innocents.

Raine used her revitalize spell, healing nearly all the wounds the students had experienced so far in the battle. She continued using her more concentrated spells until she was sure that they weren't in life threatening danger. Then she turned her attention to the monsters her companions were battling. With a fury of light spells, she destroyed many of the dark based monsters, forcing the monsters to flee back into the temple.

"It's a good thing you came when you did," one of the students said as he walking up to Raine.

"I never thought we'd be attacked by monsters that strong when we were still outside the temple," another said.

"Is everyone all right?" Raine asked.

"Well, Jake and Scott took a few blows from the monsters, but they seem to be doing better now. Jeff was able to defend himself without taking any serious hits, but you might want to take a closer look at Ben and Nathanael though. Dave was able to use his martial art skills to kill several of them, now he's just trying to get the monster's flesh off his once clean uniform."

"What about you Rob?" the professor asked.

"I'll remember this battle for a while, but I'm fine."

"Hey Raine, don't the monsters normally stay within the temple?" Sheena asked.

"Yea," Raine said, "Occasionally one or two may leave, but never dozens attacking like that." She knew that something was wrong, but it only strengthened her curiosity. There was something she didn't know, and it was taunting her, but she would find out.

"Perhaps this armor lured them," a student suggested, "After all, they could have responded to the powerful mana concentration in the armor, especially since you theorize they were crafted by the summon spirits themselves."

"Which means we'll need to exercise more caution as we delve into the unknown," Raine said.

"Are you sure it is wise to continue with so few of us?" Jake asked.

"We have the heroes of world regeneration on our side, I don't think we have much to fear," Steven added.

"So we're just meat shields?" Lloyd asked as they started into the dungeon.

"That's fine with me, but where are all the chicks?" Zelos asked.

"Unfortunately, nearly all of the magitechnology engineers are males," Raine stated.

"Well at least I still have my voluptuous honey."

"Do you want my foot across your face?" she threatened.

"We'll I'd prefer other parts of your bod-"

*Smack*

"I never noticed this temple has such an echo," Raine observed after hearing Zelos cry out in pain.

The team continued through the temple, on the watch for any monsters lurking as they descended further into the darkness. Several duluhans attacked, but they were quickly dispatched by the swordsmen.

"Professor, do you notice something odd with the mana here," Scott asked.

"Now that you mention it, there is something peculiar the farther down we go," she answered.

"Are you a half-elf?" Lloyd asked, considering he and other humans couldn't notice irregularities in the mana that filled the world.

"Y-yea," he replied nervously.

"What, you got a problem with us?" Jake retorted, ready to defend his friend.

"Not at all," Zelos calmly said, "my bud was just curious."

"Yea, I don't care what race you are," Lloyd added.

"See, this world is starting to change for the better," Raine said, trying to ease the memories of prior injustices.

After what seemed like a long time of traveling, the team finally made it to the final level, where the concentration of mana was strongest. Along the ground, they saw a pitch-black sword. If it weren't for the bright blue trim along the edge and hilt, it would have completely blended in.

"That sword possesses incredible power, I must have it," Raine said as she charged at the weapon. When she went to pick it up however, a force prevented her from grabbing it.

"Its mana feels just like the armor," Jake said.

"Perhaps the helm wasn't the final piece," Raine thought aloud.

"What do we do from here then?" Sheena asked

Before she could get an answer however, the ground began shaking, and the summon spirit of darkness materialized. "Shadow, what's going on here?" the ninja asked, knowing she didn't call him.

"Go" he raspily replied.

Before they could make sense of the command, the various pieces of armor the students were carrying shot out of their backpacks, and hovered around the sword. Lloyd and Zelos drew their swords incase a fight would soon ensue. The various shards of armor combined together into a full suit, hovering above the sword. The blade then rose from the ground, as the hand opened, accepting the weapon.

The onlookers couldn't identify exactly when it happened, but what once was an empty suit of armor was now filled with a person.

He landed on the ground, where his sword once laid, and gazed at the various confused people. "Hello."

_

**End of chapter!**

**Tiger: And one of my evil cliffhangers. This time though, Xylek was the evil mastermind.**

**Xylek: *Goes to play psp***

**Tiger: Review please?**


	3. Chapter 3: A blighted memory

**Tiger: Ladies and gentlemen, and anyone I forgot, we are pleased to present the third installment of this fic. **

**Chapter 3: A blighted memory**

"W-who are you?" Sheena asked, her hear beating rapidly.

He didn't get a chance to respond though, since as soon as he landed on the ground, Shadow charged at him. The spirit turned his arm into a blade, and aimed it for the strangers face. The mysterious swordsman easily parried the attack. "I see you remember me, but it seems you've forgotten my power," the stranger said as blue runes appeared under the both of them. Out of the runes, a bright light burst forth, consuming the spirit. Before he could even attempt to get away, the light had destroyed him.

Sheena cried out in pain as the spirit disappeared. Raine ran to the summoner and began searching for the source of her pain. "It's Shadow," the ninja said weakly, "He draws his power from me, so if he's defeated like that…"

"Calm down, you need to rest," the professor said as she began casting her healing magic.

"I won't let you get away with that," Lloyd yelled as he charged at the stranger. He drew his blades of fire and ice and unleashed a fury of slashes with them. The steel of the twin swordsman was deflected with deft blade work of the enemy.

"You could be as annoying as that little blond brat," the mysterious swordsman said as he slashed across Lloyd's chest, sending him back several feet.

Zelos charged and slashed across the fiend's armor, but it didn't do any damage. The chosen jumped back in shock and blocked the counter attack before it could remove his head. "You're pretty good," the red head said as the two stood with their swords crossed.

"We have to help them," one of the students said.

"But how?" another complained, "We're nothing compared to the heroes."

"Yea, but if we combine our most powerful magic attacks, maybe we can do something."

The other students agreed and the half-elves began charging a variety of spells. After a few seconds, Zelos had started to falter to his enemy's superior strength, but the students launched their attacks at the fiend. "Is that the best you can do?" he scoffed as he prepared his unleashed his own spell. Black runes appeared below him and he smirked as he unleashed his attack. "Obliterate!" Powerful dark magic filled the air and went out, canceling the students' attacks and continued heading right for them.

Raine saw the danger they faced so she leapt from healing her friends' wounds and jumped into the line of fire. "Light, be thy substance and destroy the enemy, Sacred Shine!" Raine let loose her might light magic, which collided with the stranger's magic. The forces of light and darkness clashed in the air, neither of which bending to the other's might.

"Now's our chance!" Zelos said as he and Lloyd charged at the occupied enemy.

With the swordsmen charging at him, the stranger was forced to release control of his dark magic in order to parry the slashes and thrusts of his foes.

The dark swordsman leapt into the air to get away from the blades of his enemy. However, he did not notice Raine's attack breaking through his dark magic until it collided into him, sending him into the wall

"You people are quite the pest," the stranger said as got up, brushing the shards of the wall of his armor. He was annoyed that these random people had actually been able to hurt him. He'd make these fools pay with their lives.

"Who are you?" Lloyd demanded.

"My name is Xylek, but all you need to know is that I will be the one to kill you."

"You may not have noticed, but you are heavily outnumbered here," Raine added.

"You might have a point," he said, gazing around to judge his next move. "It doesn't help that I haven't regained my full power."

"Your full power?" Lloyd asked, wondering what kind of power this foe possessed.

Raine was overcome with a desire to dissect this strange being, but she knew that would have to wait until her friends and students were out of danger. "We must be careful," the professor instructed.

"While I'd very much like to show you what I'm capable of, I have friends I must settle business with," Xylek said as he ran toward the stairs leading out of the temple. Lloyd charged at him, but the enemy fired several shards of ice from his blade, which struck the swordsman, sending him flying and into another wall. Zelos dawned his golden wings and flew after the mysterious swordsman, but he too was stopped with Xylek's dark sphere.

None of the others were able to reach Xylek before he reached the stairs and began escaping the darkness.

The mana in the temple began swirling and while the heroes were distracted by the stranger escaping, they didn't notice Shadow reforming on his alter. The spirit of darkness knew something had to be done, so he leapt through the air after Xylek. The magic swordsman knew the attack was coming and turned, once again using his sword to block. "You are a stubborn little pest, aren't you?"

After Xylek parried a number of blows, he saw an opening and thrust his blade through Shadow's body. His sword began glowing, and the spirit of darkness could not pull himself away from the attack. "Your power is mine now," Xylek said yanking his blade out of the spirit. Once the power he desired was his, he continued out of the temple.

Shadow fell back from the attack and his body began disintegrating once it collided with the ground. His body didn't completely fade, but he was much less intimidating than before.

"What an unusual specimen," Raine commented.

"Yea, it's kind of like the fragments we had to find when we first came here," Lloyd said.

"Aw, it's so cute," Zelos said trying to pet it, "It's like a chibi-Shadow."

*Chomp*

"Sheena! Did you tell him to attack me like that?"

"Shadow, spit that out, you don't know where it's been!" the spirit complied and then looked seriously at the others.

"Efreet…help…" he said before fading once again.

"Is he okay?" Lloyd asked.

"Yea, he just returned to the world of the summon spirits. He seemed to be hurt pretty badly, so we should just him rest for a while," Sheena explained.

"My poor finger," Zelos whined, "He better not have rabies."

"We should probably go to the temple of fire to see what's going on with Efreet," Raine suggested.

"Good plan," Lloyd said as he and the rest of the adventures climbed the seemingly endless steps out of the temple.

"My poor finger," Zelos complained again. Sheena quickly silenced though with a smack across the back of the head.

**Xylek: Yes, this really is a self insert.**

**Tiger: That's true, he really goes around school wearing a full suit of armor and carrying sword.**

**Both: Please review…or else…**


	4. Chapter 4: The Other Half

**Chapter 4: The Other Half**

"Something is amiss," Efreet said, gazing around the altar. The only time he could be brought into the mortal realm against his will was when he is called by a summoner. After quickly surveying the air, he knew something was wrong with the mana flow.

"Hello Efreet," an all too familiar voice said. The fire spirit turned and saw his longtime foe standing there, incased in his midnight blue armor. "It's been a while."

"Xylek," Efreet growled, trying to keep calm, "Indeed it has." He harnessed his power of fire to from a large axe of flames in his hand. Knowing he couldn't waste anytime, the spirit changed at the swordsman, a trail of fire following him.

Xylek was unfazed and raised his own blade to block. The sword of ice and axe of fire clashed, with a massive explosion blasting both warriors back. "You've grown weaker," the fire spirit stated.

"Perhaps I have," Xylek responded by holding his palm out and firing many ferocious ice needles at his target.

Efreet wasn't impressed though. His mastery of fire magic allowed him to instantly send a spiral flame out, incinerating the incoming attack. Xylek barley leapt out of the way of the flames that ripped through the walls behind him.

Xylek realized his powers had weakened since their last battle with the summon spirit, but that didn't mean he'd give up. No, that just made that battle more fun. The swordsman ran at Efreet, his sword glowing blue from the power of ice infused within. With ice and fire being opposites, they knew the clash of the powers could cause massive destruction. This would push their skills to the limits.

The magic swordsman leapt into the air, swinging his blade down, but Efreet easily parried the many slashes. Xylek jumped back with a smirk on his face.

"Do you think you've won?" Efreet scoffed noticing this.

"I see you are still the hot headed spirit that can only see right in front of him." Efreet looked down, shocked to see the bottom half of his body incased in ice, slowly draining his power.

"You seem to have found a hole in my defenses," he conceded, "But you are no match for my raw power."

Massive flames came out from the spirit's, body, disintegrating the ice and then flying at the swordsman.

The runes on Xylek's armor began to glow a bright blue, and an ice tornado attack emerged from the ground, shielding him from the incoming flames. After the steam cleared, Xylek could be seen smirking at his enemy's useless attack.

"You think a weak ice spell will be enough to save yourself?"

"If your attacks are all that pitiful, then I won't need much more," Xylek arrogantly replied, hoping to create an opening through his foe's anger.

"Well, try this on for size!" Efreet yelled, as spears of fire formed all around him. "Taste the might of 100 flame lances!"

With the many flaming spears after him, Xylek knew he couldn't stop so many at once. He tried running from them, dodging as many as he could, while parrying those that got too close. After one struck him, blasting him into the nearest wall, he knew he had to do something to stop Efreet's rampaging power.

Hiding behind the wall for a brief second to charge his spell he figured out a way to dissipate Efreet's mighty flames. Xylek burst forth, powerful shards of ice surrounding him. "Roar over the frosted heavens!" he called, his shards of ice bursting forth at the spirit.

"Explode!" The massive ball of fire came down, evaporating the attack, and blasting Xylek through the nearest wall.

_

The heroes had set out for the Triet ruins, heeding Shadows cryptic plea to help Efreet.

"This is so fascinating," Raine said as they neared the seal of fire.

"What do you mean?" Lloyd asked.

"We can learn so much about the summons spirits. Not only were they involved in a battle against an ancient evil, but it also seems that their powers could also be transferred to others. I wonder…" the professor said as a million different theories ran through her mind. There was only one way to test them, so she turned to the summoner.

"No way! You aren't dissecting the other spirits," she responded before even hearing Raine's idea.

"It's not like they will cause any permanent harm."

"Well, you could start with that evil dark spirit," Zelos suggested, "My finger still hurts."

At this, Shadow emerged on Sheena shoulder, jumped onto Zelos' reheaird, and chomped down on a finger on his thus unharmed other hand. The spirit then disappeared as quickly as he came.

"Sheena, control your summon spirits!"

"Who said I didn't tell him to do that," she said through a slight laugh.

"Isn't that the ruins," Lloyd commented as they continued to fly through the desert, trying to break up his friends' bickering.

The four landed, and made their way near the entrance. Raine could detect the concentration of mana within the ruins, signaling a ferocious battle was taking place.

"So, you guys felt it too," another half-elf said, walking up to the group.

"Genis, what are you doing here?" Raine said turning to his younger brother.

"Well, I was in Triet and felt some kind mana instability and thought I should check it out." An earthquake rocked the area during the mage's explanation, knocking over several of the pillars

"I see," Raine said as she analyzed the information while also dodging several rocks falling at her, "If Xylek's power is strong enough to disrupt the mana over that large of an area and cause these earthquakes, we could be in trouble."

"Uh, guys, that could mean Efreet is in danger so we better hurry," Zelos said.

"I have to agree with Zelos, we should get in there," the ninja said.

Lloyd quickly charged into the ruins with the other heroes right behind him. "Wait," Genis said, causing the rest of the group to stop in their tracks.

"What is it?" Sheena asked.

The mage pointed to a body leaning against the wall. "Is he alive?" Lloyd asked as Genis ran up to it, checking for a pulse. Blood had seeped out from a chest wound and coated the ground.

"He's not breathing and there isn't a pulse," Genis soberly said.

"It's Kenny," Zelos said, recognizing his old friend from Meltokio.

"You knew him?" Sheena asked.

"Yea, I went to school with him. When the worlds were united, he said he wanted to explore as much of Sylvarant as he could."

"Xylek is going to pay!" Lloyd exclaimed pounding his fist into an open palm. "Let's get him!" he declared running off again.

After taking several turns through the ruins, the swordsman lost all sense of direction, but in his anger and haste, he didn't notice. He finally stopped through once they hit a dead end. "Um, anyone remember how we get to the altar?"

"I thought you knew where you were going!" Genis protested.

"Well, I thought I did," Lloyd said sheepishly.

"Well, we can get there from the last fork we passed," Raine said as she looked down at her map she made during the journey of world regeneration, "Just go down that path, take a left at the next fork, and then go right and we'll be at the altar."

A powerful explosion rocked the walls of the temple, throwing the heroes off balance, and knocking Genis into an ancient vase.

"Genis, what did you do?!" Raine yelled.

"It's not like that was anything important," Lloyd commented.

"What did you say!?"

"I think we have bigger things to worry about than that," Sheena said trying to bring Raine out of ruin mode.

The sound of walls collapsing resounded through the building, before the one in front of them shattered and a magic swordsman fell through it colliding into the professor.

_

Xylek couldn't believe how strong Effect's fire attacks were. He knew the spirit was powerful, but the fact that the last one sent him through half a dozen walls was more than he was expecting; he'd have to go all out if he wanted to survive this.

"Thanks for breaking my fall," he said to the professor before charging back into battle.

"I see you aren't dead yet," the fire spirit said forming to flame lances in his hand, "That won't last long."

The swords of fire clashed against Xylek's blade of ice. Vicious flames burst form the blades, barley deflected by the swordsman's armor. The heat caused Xylek to lose focus temporarily, giving Efreet the opening he needed slice across the swordsman's chest several times, before blasting him away in a burst of fire.

"I won't be beaten that easily," Xylek said, infusing his sword with as much power as possible. He once again charged at the spirit who tried blocking the attack, just as the swordsman planned.

Xylek cleaved through the swords and slice his blade across the spirit's chest before turning back to face him. "It's been nice knowing you," he said mockingly before unleashing a point blank bloody howling spell. Infused with the power of Shadow, the dark magic brought the spirit to his knees.

The heroes finally made it into the alter room, seeing Xylek breathing heavily after delivering his last blow.

"We have to do something!" Genis said.

"Yea, he killed Kenny," Zelos replied drawing his sword.

"No, I'm not beat yet," Efreet said, rising to his feet once more. "I have one last attack to finish him off, but the rest of you have to run!"

"We can't let him die," Lloyd said, protesting leaving a comrade behind.

"He doesn't plan on losing," Sheena exclaimed, "Efreet's raw power is the strongest of the summon spirits, but if he unleashes all his might, we might be in as much danger as his target."

Lloyd saw the logic behind that plan, and didn't want to be at the wrong end of Efreet's attacks. He and the rest of the heroes ran as fast as they could to escape the ruins.

Red runes appeared all around Efreet as he called upon the most powerful fire spell ever seen. "Roar, o conflagration, and command all impure souls to their ashen ends… Ancient Nova!"

With the spell completed, Efreet held out his hands and unleashed an enormous fireball that rocketed across the room, completely incinerating anything within its path. Xylek's eyes widened at the display of power. He knew there was no way to dodge this one, and even his most powerful ice attacks couldn't keep him safe.

The heroes fled as fast as they could, but pieces of the temple were collapsing all around them. "We're not going to make it," Zelos said as they could feel the heat building behind them. The raging inferno pursued them no matter how fast they ran.

"Ice wall!"

A shield of ice appeared around them, cushioning the blow of the fire, but the impact of the explosion still send them flying out of what was left of the ruins, into the sand of the desert.

After Zelos pulled his head out from the sand, he just stared at the crater that existed where the ruins once were. He could not form words at the destructive power of that attack, only point at it and stare.

"My precious ruins!" Raine yelled, horrified that such a marvelous picture of the past was reduced to ash.

"Is everyone okay?" Lloyd asked.

"I think so," Genis said trying to get sand out of his shoe.

"Who saved us with that ice though?" the summoner asked.

"It appeared that you couldn't handle it by yourself," a blue skinned summon spirit said who landed beside them.

"Celsius?" they all asked surprised.

"It looks like the fight isn't over yet though," she declared gazing at the bottom of the crater. Efreet was breathing hard, not used to expending that much energy in one attack. Standing opposite him was Xylek, who appeared to have survived that attack with minimal damage. However, beside Xylek, stood another swordsman with similar armor. This new warrior had pitch-black armor with red trim. In his right hand, he carried a blood red sword.

"Thank you for giving me my power back," the stranger said.

"Make sure you thank that half elf who brought your helmet with her. Because of that, I was able to channel the power of Efreet's last attack to you."

"Things just got a whole lot worse," Celsius declared.

"Alright, I got you your power back, now it's time to return the favor," Xylek said to his friend.

"That shouldn't be too hard; she never was that strong."

"Oh, one more thing."

"What?"

"I told you I'd be back first."

_

**Tiger: Epic battle of fire and ice, a mysterious cliffhanger, Kenny dieing and Zelos in pain, what more could you want?**

**Xylek: You could want bacon.**

**Tiger: Fair enough, and if you review, you might just get bacon!**


	5. Chapter 5: Only Human

Chapter 5: Only Human

"We have to stop him!" Celsius yelled, feeling the terror build inside her. She wouldn't let the others see her fear though, after all, it wasn't everyday she found a foe she could go all out on.

"Oh, it's far too late for that," the stranger said, walking over to the defeated spirit of flame.

"I can't believe you actually returned," Efreet said trying to get up off the ground, but all he could do was stare up at the sword pointed at his face.

"It may have taken more time than I would have liked, but I promised I'd be back, and I don't break promises," the stranger said as he shoved his sword into Efreet's body, causing the blade to glow bright red.

"Curse you Xegros," Efreet mumbled, falling unconscious. The flames around the spirit's body faded, leaving him as nothing more than a human.

"That's impossible!" Sheena yelled.

"A summon spirit turned into a human, fascinating," Raine exclaimed, amazed that everything she thought she knew about summon sprits was just changed. Efreet's new body had bright red hair, a muscular frame, and well tanned skin.

"Give Efreet's power back!" Celsius exclaimed running at Xegros.

"Someone that weak does not deserve the power of fire," Xegros said, rising his blade to block the kicked aimed at his face. The swordsman jumped back, thrilled to finally partake in his first fight in millennia.

"We have to help them!" Lloyd said drawing his swords and sprinting toward them.

Xegros looked toward the heroes rushing toward them, amused at their courage. "I'm afraid I can't have that," he said pointing his blade toward the sky and releasing a mighty stream of flames. As it fell to the earth, the fire created a barrier, the massive heat preventing the heroes from interfering. He'd deal with them soon enough, but right now he had more important things to take care of.

"What do we do?" Genis asked.

"Simple, we just break though it," Lloyd said as he tightly gripped his swords.

_

"Do you really think you can beat someone as strong as me?" Xegros asked as both he and the summon spirit charged their mana.

"Arrogant as ever I see," Celsius replied, once again running at him.

"It's not arrogance when you're this good."

She jumped into the air, firing several ice needles at him, which he dissipated with his blaze. She landed beside him, and hit him with a swallow dance attack, knocking him into the air and back several feet, but his armor protected him from any harm.

Xegros then charged at her, swinging his blade down at the spirit, but she jumped back before sprinting at him and unleashing her beast attack, knocking him to the ground. "Absolute!" she cried, calling upon the mighty ice spell to incase her foe.

After being knocked down by beast, Xegros didn't have time to dodge the prison of ice forming all around him. However, his mastery of fire made such weak ice attacks do little damage. He called upon the power of his blade causing it to spew flames wildly, melting the ice. He emerged unharmed with steam surrounding him.

"Is that the best you can do?" he asked mockingly.

"Not even close," she snapped back. It had been many ages since she last had to fight to the fullest extent of her powers. Even so, she wasn't sure if that power would be enough to take down Xegros, but she wouldn't let him see the doubt building inside her.

"Good, since I actually want a challenge." He ran at her, his sword ablaze and pointed his foe. A fury of flames shot forth, nearly consuming the spirit, but she jumped to the side just in time. The swordsman wouldn't let her get away that easily though. He followed her movements, continuously shooting fire at her, forcing her to keep dodging and preventing her from launching a counter attack. The most she could do was use her ice needles attack, but the flames easily melted the attack.

Times like this she resenting her hand to hand fighting style. If she could get close to an opponent, she could quickly incapacitate them, but from a distance her power was limited. She still had access to her magic, but with the fire all around her, it would take too long to cast anything strong enough to break through her foe's flames. Time was running out before she'd fall pray to the raging inferno, so she had to win fast. An idea came to her, a dangerous one, but if it worked, she'd get the chance she needed.

Celsius ran at Xegros instead of just dodging the fire. She tired blocking his attacks with her ice attacks, but they weren't strong enough and the scalding flames still collided into her. Even so, she kept running closer to him, ignoring the pain. Once she finally reached the swordsman, she struck the ground with her fist, causing a massive spear of ice to shoot out of the ground, incasing Xegros in its frosty embrace. Even he would have trouble breaking free from something that strong.

While he slowly tried getting out, she jumped back and began charging her most powerful spell. "O frozen world, awash in the purest white, rain down the final chill curtain to lay these wandering souls to rest… Blizzard."

Xegros broke free right as she completed the spell. White sheets of snow battled the fire for control of the air. Mighty shards of ice fell from the sky, striking Xegros several times, pounding him back into the ground. Celsius breathed in the refreshingly crisp air, felling it rejuvenate her body.

"Not bad," the magic swordsman said, actually feeling pain from that attack. He then began his own incantation. "Roar, O configuration and command all impure souls to their ashen ends…"

Celsius knew what was coming after seeing the destructive power that Efreet wielded. If he got that spell off, she wouldn't stand a chance. She ran him, thankful the incantation took so long, so she could disrupt it, but as she aimed her fist at his face, she felt a sword pierce her stomach.

She leaned over in pain, unable to remove herself form the steel. "I didn't think you could move when you were casting," she said as she coughed up blood.

"I think the heat is messing with your vision my dear; I wasn't casting at all, just luring you in." The swordsman of fire then turned his attention to his friend who had thus far remained out of the fight. "Toss me your sword."

Xylek nodded as the blue blade flew through the air into Xegros' hand. The fire swordsman shoved his friends' blade into the spirit's heart as he took his own out. A strange sensation came over the spirit, and she felt her control over the mana leaving her. The blue shade of her skin turned to white but other than that she retained most of her appearance. "Thank you so much," Xegros replied sarcastically tossing the sword back to his friend.

"That went better than expected," Xylek commented, looking to the two spirits on the ground.

"Indeed, we best be going now," he said as he put his sword away, releasing the flames that had prevented the others from interfering.

"You think we should just let them live?" the ice warrior asked.

"I'd say since they brought us back and returned our powers to us; we'll let them get away this time."

_

**Right after the big fire came…**

"This fire is too strong," Lloyd said after trying to slash his way through unsuccessfully.

"Leave this to me," Zelos said putting his sword away and walking up to the fire. He pulled his fist back and tried concentrating as much power as he could in it. He punched the fire with as much power as he could yelling, "Falcon Punch!" However, the attack did nothing but give him a very bad burn.

"Why made you think that would work?" Genis asked.

"I have no idea," Zelos said, "But could someone please stop this pain in my hand!?"

At this Chibi-Shadow appeared and jumped over to Zelos, biting his other hand before fading back into the shadows.

"Why does he keep doing that?!" the whiny chosen complained.

"Well, maybe that way you'd stop complaining about the other hand," Sheena said.

"But now they both hurt!"

"Keep yappen and you'll be in even more pain."

"Calm down children," Raine said as she healed Zelos' injuries while looking at the towering blaze before them. "Right now we have more important things to worry about."

"Maybe if we combine our magic together," Genis suggested.

"It's worth a shot," Raine said.

Genis used his tidal wave spell well Raine aided with Ray and Zelos with thunder blade, but the attacks did nothing to dissipate the raging flames.

"That didn't work," Zelos said.

"Maybe we could fly over it," Genis said looking up at the sky.

"It's awfully high though," Lloyd said.

"Still, Zelos should be able to get over it," the mage said.

"Fine, I'll do it." The chosen dawned his golden wings and took to the sky. As he flew higher, he noticed the air quickly got a lot colder, which was really strange, considering they were in the hottest desert in the world and near a giant fire. He just shrugged of this anomaly, at least until he saw a giant shard of ice heading toward him. He tried drawing his sword to block it, but it came to fast, and knocked him back into the ruins.

"That didn't work," he mumbled as Raine once again healed him.

"What do we do now?" Genis asked.

"Well, I'm not flying up there where random blocks of ice will attack me." The chosen got back to his feet, thankful for Raine's healing expertise.

As the group tried thinking of a solution, the fire dissipated of its own accord. The heroes looked in, noticing Efreet was still on the ground and Xylek and Xegros were still standing. The biggest surprise though was Celsius on the ground beside him, her appearance resembling that of a human.

"You think we should just let them live?" the ice warrior asked.

"I'd say since they brought us back and returned our powers to us; we'll let them get away this time."

"You think we'll let you just get away?" Lloyd yelled.

"Silly human, don't push your luck if you want to live," Xegros said as he stabbed his blade into the ground. Red runes spread out around him in a radius of at least 20 feet. A flaming dragon rose from it carrying the magic swordsmen of their backs.

Lloyd wasn't sure what to do. He knew that these two were incredibly powerful, but he couldn't just let them get away to cause even more damage. Lloyd felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Zelos beside him. "Don't worry bud, we'll figure out a way to beat them. Right now we have to take care of them," he said pointing to the wounded sprits.

**Tiger: We have too much fun coming up with villains. **

**Xylek: Have no fear, the next chapter might clear up a few things, or confuse you even more.**


	6. Chapter 6: Master and Apprentice

Tiger: And after a fun summer break, we have returned to college to bring you the continuation of this story, and to continue our education, but mostly the first one.

Xylek: Inspiration for this chapter comes from the plethora of anime and manga I have assimilated into my mind over the summer.

**Chapter 6: Master and Apprentice**

After the destruction of the ruins Xylek and Xegros, the heroes had taken the spirts to Triet to rest for the night. Sheena had originally thought that they just needed some rest and they would return to their normal forms, but Efreet and Celsius looked as human as the rest of them.

"I can't believe a once proud spirit is reduced to such a degrading form," the former spirit of flame proclaimed in the middle of the hotel lobby.

"At least remember to put clothes on when you go out in public," Sheena said tossing a shirt and pants to the spirit.

"Why should I confine myself to such human restraints?" he said giving the hotel's occupants a show they did not need.

"Because it's the law and I doubt you want to suffer the constraints of a jail cell," the summoner countered.

"I know how you feel Efreet, but listening to them was the only way to stop that red headed one from staring at me," added Celsius.

"Children, if you don't mind, we should probably be heading to Meltokio. It's a long flight there and I'd like to get there by dark." Raine never thought it would so difficult to take care of summon spirits, and having to keep Zelos and Sheena from killing each other was enough of a task in itself.

"The mortal has a point," Celsius said, "I for one don't want to be in this body any longer than necessary, so we best find a way to stop those two and get our powers back."

"I'm all for that," Efreet said.

While they were talking amount themselves, they heard a loud crash from up stairs accompanied by Lloyd screaming. "Zelos stop bouncing on my bed with me in it!"

"Sorry bud, but it was the only way to wake you up."

"Well I'm awake so you can stop it."

"They'll be out soon," Genis said from the top of the stairs as he narrowly dodged a shoe thrown in his general direction.

…

After about an hour of Raine yelling at people, Zelos hitting on the various females and most of the other guests fearing for their lives, the heroes had finally left the hotel.

Since they didn't have enough reheairds for everyone to ride, Efreet rode with Zelos and Celsius rode with Sheena. The flight took several hours, and after about one hour, Zelos decided it would be fun to show the spirit of fire some of more exciting functions of the flying vehicles. The chosen somewhat carefully guided the reheairds through several loops flying around Sheena. After becoming slightly dizzy, he evened out his flight and followed right beyond Sheena.

The ninja had had enough of the idiot chosen. She turned around in her seat and proceeded to give him a piece of her mind. "You idiot chosen, you could have killed all of us! Do you even think about what you're doing? I swear, I think you are the most air headed person to ever exist on entire planet!"

"Uh, Sheena," Zelos said nervously.

"What?"

"How are you steering if you are turning yelling at me?"

"With my butt cheeks of course," she said as if it made perfect sense.

A perverted smile came across the chosen's face as she finally realized the lack of logic in that plan so quickly turned around and firmly gripped the wheel with her hands

"Does she do that often?" Efreet asked nervously.

"Normally she also adds in some kicks or slaps."

After several hours of bickering and traveling, the heroes finally made it to Meltokio. It was already late, so the group decided to head to Zelos' mansion. The chosen immediately jumped over the back of the couch and laid on it, calling for his butler.

"How can I sever you Master Zelos?"

"Can you prepare the guest rooms for my buds?"

"But of course, they will be ready in no time," Sebastian said politely calling for several of the maids to make sure everything was in perfect condition.

"And make sure that these lovely ladies receive the finest rooms we have," Zelos said with a wink as he pointed to Sheena and Celsius.

"Not a problem."

"What was that about?" Sheena asked ready to slap Zelos in the head in the likely event he was planning something.

"Sheena, I'm shocked that you'd accuse me of something," he said in mock hurt, backing up and placing his hand over his chest. "Is it not my duty as the host to make sure my guests are given the best accommodations possible?"

Sheena knew that he had something planned, but didn't know what. Not having any evidence to accuse him, she merely shot him a glare.

"Fine," she said walking away.

…

**Later that night**

Night had fallen several hours earlier and most of the heroes had already gone to sleep after their busy day of traveling, however Zelos was still wide awake and slowly crept through the halls of his mansion. With the lights out, was sure no one would see him. Hearing the water running through the walls, he knew he'd have the opportunity he had been waiting for in a matter of moments.

"What are you doing here?" Efreet said snapping the chosen out of his thoughts.

"Oh, just going to the show," he said with a wicked grin.

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say I might have put a couple small holes in the shower and there might be a closet right next to it where I can get a good view."

"I can't see how that could go wrong," Efreet responded sarcastically.

"What do you mean, they won't even know I'm there, and what they don't know won't hurt them or me."

"Enjoy then," Efreet said, returning to his room with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"He's missing out," Zelos said as he pulled the book away on the bookshelf revealing a secret door. He slid in, letting the bookshelf return to normal as he took his seat and prepared for the show to start.

"Sheena, how do you work this thing?" a non-clothed Celsius asked from beyond the walls as she fiddled with the controls trying to figure out how the water came out.

"This is awesome," Zelos whispered to himself, a wide smile spreading across his face as his eyes took in the delicious sight.

"Hold on, let me show you," Sheena said walking into the shower too. She then proceeded to show Celsius how the controls worked, the water flowing down their bodies, making Zelos even more entranced.

"Did you hear something?" Sheena asked, hearing the chosen's chuckle through the roar of the water.

"No, what was it?"

Sheena shook her head; she should have known he would have planned something like this. "Wrap this around you," she said handing a towel to the spirit.

Zelos began running to the exit, but it wasn't fast enough as Sheena blew the wall down with a pyre seal before giving Zelos a roundhouse kick to the face. "You pervert!" she screamed, angrier than she ever had been at the chosen, and that was saying something

"Whoa, Sheena, this is all a misunderstanding. You see, it was dark in the halls, so I went into the wrong room."

"Oh, I'm sure, just like me breaking your limbs will all be a big understanding," Sheena said, balling her hand into fist.

"Sheena, I think you should let him go," Celsius said putting a hand on the summoner's shoulder.

"Really?"

"Thank you my cool beauty, I was certain that someone such as you would keep a calm head during something like this."

"Because I think I should get to punish him," Celsius said cracking her knuckles. "After all, I was the one he was spying on."

"Be my guest."

"Uh-oh."

"Beast!"

…

**A few rooms down.**

Efreet lay in his bed, unaccustomed to the strange sleeping conditions of the mortals, but decided that was something he'd have to get used to until he could return to the spirit world. He closed his eyes, trying to sleep, but was soon awoken by Zelos breaking through multiple walls and landing in his bed.

"I'm pretty sure you were going for one of their beds," Efreet said pointing to the pair he saw through the several broken walls.

"I can't believe they caught me," he said, pulling drywall out of his ear.

"With an amateur like you, it's no surprise," Efreet scoffed, pushing Zelos onto the floor. Now if you will excuse me, it's time for the master to enjoy the show," Efreet said walking away leaving the chosen sitting there in bewilderment. He would have followed, but he had a horrible headache from going through the walls. He decided to just go to bed, and question Efreet in the morning.

…

**Early the next day**

Genis got up early the next morning before anyone else. He wondered what those noises were last night, but shrugged if off as Zelos having too much fun being back and he didn't need details. However, as he went to the bathroom, he noticed Efreet lying on the ground, having a heavy nosebleed.

"Guys!" he yelled, and Sheena Celsius and Zelos quickly ran out of the room to see what had happened.

"What happened to him?" Genis asked.

"Look," Sheena said, pointing to two small holes in the wall of the bathroom.

"I can't believe this!" Celsius screamed.

"We should probably keep him away from Zelos; he seems to be a bad influence."

"Nah, he was always like that. I was just surprised that I didn't see this coming."

…

Tiger: We hope you enjoyed this chapter of slightly random comedy, and would appreciate any and all reviews.

Xylek: Upcoming chapters may seem a bit… different. *cracks knuckles* I'm going to actually start writing instead of throwing ideas at Tiger.

Tiger: Yeah, those ideas can be painful; I think that last one bruised my liver.


	7. Chapter 7: Fragments of the Past

Xylek: Due to Tiger having a bruised liver, I shall be taking over this story.

Tiger: Don't be too harsh on him; at least he's updating faster than I would.

**Chapter 7: Fragments of the Past**

Efreet sat on a chair with a slight grin on his face. Or, what would have been a grin if half of his face wasn't swollen and marred by Celsius' foot mark.

"I can't believe that you peeked on us in the shower," she said with disgust as the rest of the group worked their way downstairs to see what the commotion was.

"Great, another Zelos," commented Genis with an exaggerated roll of his eyes.

"Silence, mortal, for you haven't even hit puberty yet," remarked the red-haired spirit, "And I would prefer if you didn't compare me to that idiot. He has no skill."

"Enough!" Raine shouted before Zelos could think of a rebuttal, "We'll address our issues with Zelos and Efreet later. For now, I feel that we need some information on who we're up against. So far, we only know that both Xylek and Xegros are extremely powerful, but we have no idea what they plan to do. They have the combined power of three summon spirits, in addition to their own strength. Celsius, would you happen to know anything about them that would be of use to us?"

"I don't know much, but I can provide you with what I do know," she said. "For starters, both of them fought in the Great Kharlan War."

"Like Mithos?" asked Lloyd, "Xylek mentioned something about an annoying half-elf, so maybe they fought?"

"Most likely," remarked Celsius. "Mithos used the Eternal Sword to seal both Xylek and Xegros away, as they were causing problems with the 'new world' he created to end the war. Xegros supposedly came from a village that was wiped out in a battle fairly early in the war. He was rather young at the time, so it probably made him resent both sides. He tried to incite revolutions in both Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, eventually becoming a wanted criminal in both countries. They needed to get rid of him so they placed a large bounty on his head. He was an exceptional fighter though, so many bounty hunters died trying to capture him."

"How do you know this?" inquired Raine. "This seems quite detailed for a summon spirit to know."

"Simple. I helped fight in the war. Did you forget who held the pact before Sheena?"

"Mithos…" added the summoner.

"Yes, and there was another even before him, and it is by that summoner that Xylek possesses his armor and sword, and the same applies to Xegros. They formed pacts with us spirits to borrow our power to help fight in the war."

"Well, what about Xylek?" Zelos asked. "That guy seemed weird."

Celsius said, "Xylek was a former general in the country of Tethe'alla. He commanded the armored knights' division of the army. Something happened, though, that made him decide to quit. Tethe'alla didn't want to lose him, so they threatened him in an attempt to make him change his mind. He refused to stay, and then massacred the entire armored knights' division of the infantry and escaped. He was later accused of being a spy for the enemy, so a bounty was placed on his head as well. Assassins were hired to kill him so he couldn't help the enemy, and while on the run, he met both the summoner and Xegros. They stayed together, and tried to end the war their own way. Mithos ended up forcing the other summoner to annul her pacts so that he could forge the Eternal Sword with our power. After that, I don't know what happened to them and I doubt Efreet would know anything else either."

"Wait, what was the other summoner's name?" asked Genis, wondering if there was anything about her in the records of the war that could give them more information.

"Ah, her name was-" Celsius was cut off as Orochi appeared via a cloud of smoke in the middle of the room.

"Sheena, we've spotted a swordsman in black and blue armor like you described in your letter," he exclaimed, "He was spotted not too long ago outside of Mizuho. Alone."

"That can only be Xylek. If he's alone, we can take him out now!" added Lloyd. "I'm sure if we combine our powers we can beat him, and then we can find Xegros and stop whatever it is he's planning."

"Orochi, see if our scouts can find Xegros, Xylek might be only a diversion."

"I agree," added Efreet. "Xegros wasn't the most stable of individuals _before_ he was sealed away in solitude for almost 4000 years. He's probably planning some sort of revenge for everything that happened in the war. If Xylek is out of the picture, it'll make dealing with him much easier."

"Alright, then; we'll head over to Mizuho immediately," stated Raine.

Orochi added, "I've already informed Regal and Presea, so they'll meet you there. I was unable to locate Collette, so she won't be helping, unfortunately."

"That's okay, she's not much for violence, and I think Efreet and Celsius are going to be very mad when we confront him," Lloyd said

"That's an understatement," Efreet said, pounding his fist into his palm, more than ready for revenge.

After a brief stop at the weapon store to buy weapons for the summon sprits, the heroes set out for Mizuho where they were joined by Regal and Presea, who they explained everything to.

"So, this person stole Celsius' power?" inquired Regal, "Interesting. Getting it back won't be easy."

"He also has half of Shadow's power, which makes him even more dangerous," commented Presea.

"We were able to beat the summon spirits before, so this shouldn't be that hard. We're much stronger than what we were the first time, so it'll be-" Lloyd was saying before he was interrupted.

"Fool!" exclaimed Efreet. "Those were merely tests of strength. We held back. Xylek and Xegros have no such inclinations, so it will be much harder. Don't underestimate them."

"I feel that since he's by himself, we can still take him," added Celsius. "It won't be easy, but we can win." After her previous battle against Xegros, she knew defeating these foes wouldn't be easy, especially since she only had a fraction of her normal power. Still, with the help of these mortals, she thought they at least stood a chance.

The heroes moved out into the forests around Mizuho, following Celsius who could sense the location of her stolen power. They came to a clearing, and to their surprise, they saw the ebon-clad knight kneeling in the middle, with his sword stabbed into the ground. His head was bent, and he showed no sign that he was even aware of their presence.

"What's he doing?" asked Zelos.

"I'm not sure," answered Celsius.

"Mourning," stated Xylek as he rose and turned to face them.

"Good morning to you too," Lloyd responded back.

"Not that kind of morning you idiot," Sheena said.

"Mourning who?" asked Genis, shocked to hear his foe expressing such a sentimental emotion.

"Someone who is no longer here," the armor-clad figure cryptically answered, "and I also suppose the loss of the Heroes of Regeneration, too." He grabbed his sword out of the ground. "Come at me."


	8. Chapter 8: Overwhelmed

Tiger: I must say I'm impressed. It seems Xylek watching lots of anime has made him a good action writer

Xylek: *bows head solemnly *

**Chapter 8: Overwhelmed**

"Come at me then," Xylek said as he leveled his sword at the heroes.

Well, most of the heroes. Not two seconds later, Regal leapt from a tree behind the swordsman, and aimed a powerful kick at the back of his head. He hoped to use the element of surprise to end the battle quickly. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work. Xylek, exhibiting speed that belied his suit of armor, turned and snatched Regal by the ankle.

'This is bad,' thought Regal, 'Real bad.'

"Ha, nice try, but you aren't the most graceful of assailants," Xylek remarked with a smirk.

He swung Regal around like a stuffed animal, slamming him into and through trees. Finally releasing him, Xylek threw the duke into a tree so hard that the trunk _snapped_ in half from the impact. Regal collapsed at the base of the tree, slumped over, and passed out.

"Regal!" Presea cried as she charged Xylek in a fit of rage.

"Oh ho," Xylek said, dodging her wild axe swings. "I'm not one to fight little girls, but if you keep this up, somebody might get hurt."

"Shut up!" she replied. "That's the idea!"

As Xylek parried her attack, he unexpectedly lost his footing, and then he noticed that part of the ground had been turned to mud. His foot was stuck.

"What?" he yelled in surprise.

"Didn't notice me flooding that patch of ground with water?" said Genis. "How unobservant of you."

"Tch," was all Xylek got out of his mouth as Presea's axe caught him in the chest, ripping him out of the ground and launching him into the air.

"Hiyaa!" yelled Celsius as she leapt into the air with a flip. "Hunting Beast!"

She drove Xylek back into the ground, emitting an immense shockwave into his chest. She quickly rolled out of the way as Efreet charged with a bellow. He took both of his newly acquired axes (both about as big as Presea's) and began hacking at Xylek, who was still slightly dazed from the Hunting Beast.

"Professor Sage, go help Regal," yelled Lloyd. "We can handle this."

She ran over to the incapacitated warrior and began looking over his wounds. He had several broken ribs, a dislocated and broken shoulder, and was generally battered all over his body. She immediately began channeling her strongest healing magic to aid him. However, she was broken out of her concentration by a large explosion from the site of the battle.

Xylek stood up, having blasted Efreet away with a pulse of frost energy from his sword. "Feel the cold arms of death… Final Embrace!"

A giant chunk of ice flew at Efreet, though he was unable to move, still dazed from the previous attack.

"Watch out!" Celsius cried, running at Efreet, to shove him out of the way, but she was too slow, and the ice slammed them both, slamming them into a small cliffside. They both collapsed to the ground, unconscious from the blow.

Presea charged again, accompanied by magic from Zelos and Genis. Xylek shrugged off the magic attacks with his armor and charged at Presea. He parried her first axe-swing with his sword and grabbed the handle behind the blade.

"You're too worked up," he said to her. "So full of openings too."

He kicked her in the chest, sending her rolling on the ground until she came to a stop, unmoving.

"YOU MONSTER!" yelled Genis. "You'll pay! Indignation!"

"No you don't!" countered Xylek. "Gravity Well!"

The runes pulsed on Xylek's armor, and the spell was cast immediately. "The runes aren't for show. They make it so I can cast lower ranks of magic without incantation. It's much faster than your method, foolish half-elf."

Genis couldn't quite hear him, as he was being crushed into the ground by the surge of gravity around his body, which had stopped his incantation. Lloyd, Sheena, and Zelos charged the swordsman as one.

"Come on then," Xylek said with a bit of arrogance. "It's faster if I can defeat you all at once."

"Like hell that'll happen!" yelled Lloyd, as he began swinging his swords.

"Don't underestimate us," snarked Zelos as he joined Lloyd in the swordplay.

"Follow your own advice," remarked the armored warrior as he deftly parried the attacks of both swordsmen.

"Cyclone Seal!" yelled Sheena, and Xylek was launched into the air by the blast of wind.

"Thunder Blade!" said Zelos as he unleashed his magic.

Xylek knew he couldn't dodge in midair, so he met the magic head-on. His sword clashed with the Thunder Blade, causing a large explosion. The impact sent him soaring away from the three remaining warriors. Unfortunately, he landed next to Raine, who was still tending to Regal.

"Tisk tisk," he said to her. "We don't need him getting back into the fight."

He grabbed her by the arm, and in another show of strength, he lifted her into the air and slammed her into the ground. She was knocked out, her body not used to melee combat. He left her there, satisfied that she wouldn't be a factor in the fight anymore, and turned back to the others, who had been trying to reach Raine before she was hurt.

"Duck," Xylek said as he took a lunge at the heroes, swinging his sword in a large horizontal arc.

Sheena artfully dodged it, and Lloyd blocked it, but the impact threw him back several feet. The sword swing didn't stop though, as Zelos had thought it would after Lloyd absorbed such an impact. Lloyd's block had turned the blade slightly, so Zelos was only struck with the broad side of the blade. Unfortunately, it struck him directly in the face, causing him to flip through the air multiple times before landing with blood pouring down his face.

"Ouch…" was all he said as his vision faded and he lost consciousness.

"You… you… you…" Lloyd said as he slowly stood, "you will pay for what you've done to my friends!"

"Ha, big words, even from the Hero of Regeneration," remarked Xylek. "You couldn't stop me before, and there were more of you. What threat does two pose compared to nine?"

"Well, it makes you underestimate us," said Sheena, appearing suddenly behind the warrior. "Pyre Seal!"

Xylek went flying towards Lloyd, who stood ready. "Raging Beast!"

The impact landed squarely in the stomach of the armored knight, and he let out a loud grunt of pain as he landed on the ground between the two remaining heroes.

He sighed as he stood, surprised that he had been caught off-guard again. "I'm a bit rusty. It's been a while since I've fought warriors of this caliber."

Sheena and Lloyd charged again, and Xylek stood ready. He turned and faced Lloyd to parry his swords, and then rotated to kick Sheena back.

"Stay right there, I'll be done in a second," he said as more runes pulsed on his armor.

Sheena's eyes went wide as ice formed around her feet and legs, rendering her immobile.

"Just you and me then, boy" said Xylek. "Can you take me?"

"You'll see!" yelled Lloyd as he charged alone. "Remember, I'm the Eternal Swordsman!"

Xylek froze for a second, remembering the blade that had cursed him to 4000 years of solitude. Lloyd used this opening to its fullest. He began slashing at Xylek, whose stance was off balance, not allowing him to defend properly. Though the swords didn't seem to penetrate the armor, the blows were having some effect as Xylek regained himself.

"I will not return to that hell again!" he roared, and a blast of shadow energy erupted from the ground around him, forcing Lloyd back.

"I'm not going to seal you away," said Lloyd. "I'm going to _kill you_ so you can't cause anymore pain!

"Pain? What do you know of pain!" yelled Xylek, seemingly enraged. "You cannot comprehend pain like I have known!"

"Like I care!" Lloyd yelled back. "Divine Justice!"

Lloyd leapt into the air, combining his swords into one as he came down with a mighty slash. Xylek ran to meet the impact head-on, and every rune on his armor and his sword began to glow. He cried out, "Zenryuken!" and there was a massive explosion as the blades collided in the air.

"Lloyd, are you alright?" yelled out Sheena, who was unable to free herself from her icy restraints.

Something went flying out of the cloud of dust and landed in the ground next to her. She looked at it with shock. It was Lloyd's combined sword. She then looked up again as the dust settled. Xylek stood over Lloyd, who was kneeling on the ground, winded.

"No…" she thought to herself, knowing that they were beaten.

Xylek stared down at Lloyd, who knew he was beaten.

"Hmm, should I finish it?" he asked as he hefted his sword over Lloyd's head.

"Go to hell," said Lloyd.

"You first."

Xylek reached his sword back over his head and swung it downwards.

"No! Lloyd!" Sheena cried out with tears forming in her eyes. "I can't lose you!"

Xylek's blade stopped an inch above Lloyds head, and he turned his head to look at Sheena, then back at Lloyd. Lloyd looked up at his adversary, and saw a glimpse of the eyes staring at him. He saw eyes of a broken man, lonely and full of pain. The current situation had seemed to do something to him, as his sword was beginning to shake in his hand.

"You… why did you stop?" asked Lloyd. "Don't you dare take pity on me!"

"Silence, you idiot," said Xylek as he turned away from him and sheathed his sword. "That pain I spoke of, is a pain that nobody should have to endure. It's the pain of a dream being taken away, and nobody has the right to steal another's dream. Dreams can be ideas, or even people. I see that girl over there," he pointed at Sheena, "and for some reason I cannot finish you. You lucked out today. Don't interfere with Xegros and me anymore, or I may not be so inclined to spare you again."

"Those don't sound like the words of an evil man," said Lloyd as Xylek began walking away. "What happened?"

"My dream was taken from me, and it can never be returned," snapped the knight, "I have nothing left in this world but my friend. He still has his dream, so regardless of what it is, I will help him. It's my only reason for existing now."

"That's a load of crap," Lloyd said as he slowly stood back up. "You just need to find a new reason to live. One that doesn't involve harming others."

"Naïve, young, stupid idealists like yourself don't help anything. An idealist stole my dream from me for the sake of his own. When you returned the world to its original form, did you steal anyone's dreams from them? Did you ever think of that? About how your actions would impact others?"

"Well…" Lloyd said, irritated that he was feeling pity for the same man who had injured his friends.

"Like I said, stay out of the way. You and your friends should ignore us. We plan to change this world, since as it is now, it will eventually die."

"What do you mean?" a confused Lloyd asked

"The mana is being pulled from the land. I have an idea what it's for, so I'm going to stop it."

"Wait, you mean what Ratatosk is doing to seal the world of demons back? You can't stop that! This world will be invaded!"

"Idiot, you think I don't know that? There are more ways to seal that door than one. I just need more mana than this world can provide me at the moment, so I have to get more. I have to act quickly before it gets too far away to bring back."

"What do you mean 'too far away to bring back'? You don't mean…"

"We're going to pull Derris-Kharlan back. Don't interfere."

Xylek walked off into the trees as Lloyd stood there, dumbstruck.

"If it comes back," he said to himself, "then that means _he _will be brought back too."

A million thoughts raced through his head as he went to help Sheena, who was still crying before turning to the others.


	9. Chapter 9: Motives

Xylek: Alright, let's start assembling the cast!

Tiger: I'll go get eggs, donuts, and sugar!

Xylek: And while he goes shopping, enjoy the chapter.

**Chapter 9: Motives**

Raine gently awoke from her slumber and sat up, feeling the aches in her body. She looked around at her surroundings, and realized she was in a small room. It was dark, but she could see light shining through the crack under the door.

'What happened?' she thought to herself.

She looked down at her arm, noticing it was heavily bandaged with a stint. A dull pain throbbed in it as the previous day's events filled her mind.

'Oh yeah,' she realized. The image of slamming into the ground popped into her head, and she winced at the memory. Even though the pain was still there, she quickly got up and grabbed her staff, which was leaning against the wall, and exited the room.

"Oh, Raine, you're awake? That's good," Sheena said as she sat in front of a pot of curry she was preparing.

"What about the rest of us?"

"Most of the others are awake too, and they're in the other room. I'll be in when the food is ready."

"Ok, thanks," Raine replied as she turned and entered the room Sheena had gestured towards.

As she entered, she noticed everyone was gravely silent. Lloyd stood off to the side, bandaged in various places, and he seemed to be deep in thought about something. Genis was covered in bruises from head-to-toe, and he sat next to Presea, who didn't seem to be as injured as the others. Her face was turned downwards, but Raine could tell it was very depressed. Zelos had a scowl on his face, and he had heavy bandaging on his head. Celsius and Efreet sat off to the side, both staring off at nothing. Raine didn't notice Regal in the room.

"How's Regal doing?" she asked.

"He's in that room," Lloyd said, looking up from whatever was troubling him. "He was the most injured, so it seems he'll take the longest to recover. You should go look him over and see if your magic can help."

Raine nodded and began to move towards Regal's room, but was interrupted by a loud bang at the door. The group turned to face it where seconds later the door opened and Colette ran in rubbing her head. "Silly me, I need to open to door to go through it." She then remembered why she came to the house in the first place.

"Is everyone okay?" she yelled, tears filling her eyes as she ran to all of her friends trying to encourage them. "I was so worried when I heard what happened. I hurried over here immediately. I'm glad nobody was hurt too bad."

"Well, Regal is…" Genis said somberly, "he's not in the greatest shape."

"Yes, I need to go see if there's something I can do," Raine added as she walked into his room.

Bandages covered his body, especially his arm and shoulder. He showed no signs of consciousness as he laid there, and seemed to be breathing rather shallowly. Raine walked over to the side of the bed and held her staff over him as she began chanting her spell.

"Cure!" she said, the somewhat long incantation finally finished.

There was a large pulse of energy from her staff, and Regal glowed with a green aura as the spell began to take effect. His breathing became much steadier and deeper, and as the magic worked, some of his lighter bruised began to disappear. Then, abruptly, the spell faded before its full effect took hold.

"What?" Raine asked. This outburst made the others gather at the door and look in.

"What's going on?" Sheena asked as she came running from the loud noise.

"My magic isn't working properly," Raine replied, looking over her staff for any damage. She found none. "Something's wrong. It's like the spell was cut off before it fully activated. His injuries were significantly lessened, but there's still quite a bit of damage left."

"It's fine," Regal said, as he opened his eyes, sitting up slowly, careful not to hurt himself any more. He looked at everyone, and their faces relaxed as they realized that he would be fine, even if it wasn't immediately.

"No, it's not. There were no errors casting the spell, but it fizzled out as if there wasn't enough mana in the atmosphere to exist. Wait…" she said as she noticed the change for the first time. "What's wrong with the mana? I can hardly feel any."

"You're right," Genis said, also noticing the lack of mana. Before he had been occupied with everyone injuries, but now he saw that something was clearly wrong.

"Well, we can discuss this over food. Lloyd, Zelos, go help Regal into the main room. I'll get the curry," Sheena said as she walked off to get the food she had been making.

Everyone sat around, quietly eating, pondering over what Raine and Genis had discovered.

"Hmm, that's indeed troubling," Efreet said. "I hadn't noticed yet. I guess it's because I'm not used to being in this body yet. That, and I've never had to manipulate mana like this to use spells. Oh how I miss my power…"

"Shush, you baby. Your carelessness got us both knocked out in that fight," Celsius snapped, still bitter about the loss they had all suffered. "Mana doesn't disappear for no reason. Maybe it's being used for something. Anyone have any ideas on what could be doing this or why?"

"It's probably Xylek and Xegros," Lloyd said in a depressed voice. "They said something about 'not interfering' with what they were doing."

"And what would that be?" Zelos asked. "Most of us were knocked out. You and Sheena were the only ones who heard that."

"Xylek said something about needing more mana than the world can provide right now, so they were going to get more."

"And?" Celsius asked, rather impatiently.

"They want to bring Derris-Kharlan back," Sheena answered.

Everyone looked around, shocked by this news. They then looked at Lloyd as it occurred to them what Derris-Kharlan coming back would mean.

"Why is everyone looking at Lloyd?" asked Efreet, confused by the looks on their faces.

"Lloyd's father, Kratos, is on it," Colette answered.

"I see…" Celsius said as she realized why Lloyd had been brooding all morning. "You aren't sure whether to stop them, are you? I can assure you that we can't let them do what they are planning. They caused huge amounts of destruction after Mithos separated the world, and I doubt they have very good reasons for doing this. We must stop them."

"I'm not sure," Sheena countered, "Xylek seemed to be rather passive about all of this, he didn't kill anyone, and he mentioned that he's only trying to help Xegros. Do you two have any idea what Xegros' main goal is?" she asked the two spirits.

"Xegros wanted power," Efreet said. "When he made his pact when forging the armor, he only desired power. I respected that view, as he seemed ideal for one to borrow my power. He was a person of fiery emotions, who wanted to accomplish his dream with all of his being."

"What was his dream?" asked Genis.

"He wanted to prevent war. He wasn't sure how to realize this dream, but he knew he didn't want anyone to witness war again," Efreet answered.

"Yes, but his views became distorted as he labored towards that goal," Celsius added. "He eventually decided that to prevent war, he would reign over the world as its 'watcher,' so to say. He essentially wanted to control the workings of the world for all eternity."

"You mean how Mithos manipulated everything through Cruxis?" asked Sheena.

"Yes, but Xegros will crush anyone who opposes him. Where Mithos would allow people to choose to live their own way, Xegros would force his views on everyone, and kill anyone who disagreed. He truly became mad from his own power, though he doesn't realize it," added Efreet.

"Xylek didn't mention that," Lloyd said. "He said something about preserving the world and sealing Niflheim so Ratatosk wouldn't have to re-write the laws regarding mana. I can't see how that is a bad thing."

"Yes, but their final goal is…" Raine tried to say, but she was cut off as Lloyd abruptly stood up.

"I understand that!" he yelled. "But, if we let them do this, then…" He jumped up, pushing over his chair and stormed out the door.

"Maybe we can just stop the whole 'world domination' part of the plan," Colette said. "It seems like Lloyd really want Kratos to be able to return."

"Well of course he does!" Genis said.

"It's very painful to lose your father," Presea said, the memory of her own loss coming to mind. "If I had the chance to see him again, I'd do almost anything."

"So, what do we do?" asked Regal. "Do we let this happen, and then gamble that we can stop them after they've obtained more power, or do we try to stop them now?"

A heavy silence fell upon the group as they pondered what their next move would be.

"I'm going to go check on Lloyd," Sheena said as she stood and walked out.

* * *

Lloyd stared into the water at the bottom of Mizuho's well. He wasn't sure what to do. Should he stop Xegros and Xylek? Was he doing things for the right reasons?

"Hey," said someone behind him, startling him out of his thoughts.

"What? Oh, it's you Sheena," he said. "What're you doing here?"

"Seeing if you were alright," she answered. "I know this is hard on you. You want to do the right thing, but you want Kratos to be able to return as well. To be honest, I'm not sure what to do either."

"Yeah…" he said, looking down again. "Say, Sheena?"

"What?" she answered, curious by the change in tone as he spoke.

"What exactly did you say that made Xylek stop his sword swing?"

"Ah," she said, turning away as her face flushed. "It w-was n-n-nothing," she stuttered.

"He said you were the reason he didn't kill me. I want to know. I'm not sure if I heard you right since I was a bit dazed from the sword clash. I thought I heard you say something like 'I can't lose you!' Is that right?"

"Well, I…" she started. "I didn't want to lose a good friend," she said, further turning away as her face became even redder."

"Sheena, what's wrong?" Lloyd asked, concerned why she was looking away.

Zelos came out of the house. "What're you two doing out here? Sheena, why is your face so red? Were you two-"

Shadow abruptly popped out of nowhere and rammed Zelos in the head.

"Ah, my injury! You stupid little-" he said as he chased the chibi spirit into the house.

"Well, Zelos' forehead probably started bleeding from that, so I'm going to go re-dress the cut," Sheena said, taking advantage of the situation to run into the house.

Lloyd stood their confused, wondering why Sheena was so reluctant to say what was on her mind. He sighed as he walked back in.

Everyone was gathered around the table again. Zelos had his bandages re-applied, but for some reason, they were wrapped entirely around his face and head except for his eyes. Sheena shot Zelos a glare as Lloyd looked at him. Zelos just shrugged. Lloyd looked at Sheena next, and she immediately avoided eye contact so she wouldn't start blushing so much. Lloyd scratched his head, and looked at everyone else, who had all been looking at him. Efreet was grinning, recognizing the situation with Sheena, but the smile disappeared as Celsius elbowed him in the ribs.

"We've decided what we're going to do," Raine said, taking leadership of the talk. "Without mana, Genis and I aren't able to help much, and we would have to fight both Xegros and Xylek at the same time. Since we weren't able to handle Xylek alone when everyone was in good condition, it would be suicide to try to stop both of them, especially considering everyone's condition as it is now. We've sent out a messenger to find Emil and Marta, since we're going to need all the help we can get. After Xylek and Xegros do whatever they are planning to seal Niflheim, Ratatosk will no longer have to re-write the laws of mana, so he'll be able to help us too. We believe that the most effective way to prevent Xegros from succeeding is to wait until we can all be at full strength."

"Don't forget," added Genis, "Kratos will be back too. I'm sure we can ask Yuan for help too."

"Ah, you're right. That too," Raine concluded.

Everyone looked at Lloyd, who was somewhere between shocked and seemingly happy.

"So Kratos will come be coming back? This isn't being selfish of me?" he asked.

"No, we decided this would be the plan that would most likely work," Celsius answered. "From a purely logical standpoint, too."

Efreet leaned over and whispered something in her ear, and Celsius jerked up straight.

"Of course!" she exclaimed, startling everyone. "There's another person who can help us. Unfortunately, it'll take time, but that person should be able to turn the battle significantly in our favor."

"Who's that?" asked Regal, wondering why nothing was mentioned before.

"A very strong warrior, much like Xylek and Xegros. One who made a pact on their armor with both Aska and Luna. They're sealed at the Tower of Mana. We should venture there later."

"Don't we have to find the armor?" asked Raine, seemingly excited about an artifact hunt.

"No, they were sealed there with the intent of being unsealed. It was done willingly."

"Alright, I'm glad we have a plan. We can do this!" yelled Lloyd, excited at the prospect of seeing his dad again.

* * *

Xylek stood there, gathering mana into his sword, as Xegros stood off to the side a bit.

"This is taking forever," he said to his friend. "Can't you hurry it up?"

"Shut up, I need to concentrate," Xylek snapped back. "It would be easier if both of us were doing this, but seeing as how you suck at it, you have no right to complain."

"That's not my fault. Both my parents were humans, so I'm not that in tune to the flow of mana. You're lucky, too. You only got the magic part of the elvish blood, but you look completely human. Must be because both of your parents were half-elves."

"I said shut up! It's finished, anyways."

"Finally. Let's get this started."

"You act as if you can help. It's… annoying, so stop it. Just let me concentrate," Xylek sighed as he spoke.

His friend was acting a bit childish, but he supposed after being sealed for 4000 years all alone, he had a right to be excited about what was happening. Xylek closed his eyes as he silently did the incantation for the spell. He couldn't mess up or else he could crash Derris-Kharlan into the planet. A large circle of runes appeared on the ground underneath him as the incantation finished, and the mana he had been collecting was consumed. The very air seemed to shake as the spell took effect.

Everyone was going about their ways as they readied themselves for the next day, when they all felt what seemed to be the very air shaking.

* * *

"What's going on?" Raine said, running out of her room.

"I'm not sure," said Regal as Presea helped him limp out of his room.

"Everyone! Look outside!" Colette yelled from where she had been sitting on the roof.

Everyone ran out and looked into the sky over the place where the Tower of Salvation had previously stood. There, in the night sky, floated the glowing purple shape of Derris-Kharlan.

Yuan looked up and saw what had appeared. "You've got to be kidding me!" He immediately materialized his wings and began flying to investigate how Derris-Kharlan had ended up back in orbit around the planet.

* * *

Emil and Marta looked up as they traveled towards Mizuho, hearing that their help would be needed, and they both stopped.

"Emil, what's that?" asked Marta. "It's so beautiful."

"Yeah, but I don't get a very good feeling from it at all. We should hurry and meet up with the others," Emil responded.

* * *

Richter's eyes widened as he felt the sudden surge in mana around the planet.

"Ratatosk, what is that?" he asked.

"Hmm, it seems that, somehow, Derris-Kharlan is now back in orbit around the planet. Something is going on out there."

"Indeed," responded Tenebrae. "Something big."

* * *

Xylek sat down on a rock near where he had been standing. He was exhausted from actually having to teleport the entirety of Derris-Kharlan.

"Alright, now we can get busy," Xegros said as he cracked his knuckles.

"Who's this we?" asked Xylek. "I'm not doing anything for a while. You waited 4000 years, so you can wait a few days for your friend to get his strength back."

"Fine, you lazy bum," sighed Xegros. "But we can't wait forever. We don't need any more interference from those brats."

"How about from people your own age?" asked a third person, who neither Xylek nor Xegros had noticed until that moment.

"You! I'm going to rip your head off!" Xegros yelled, drawing his sword.

"Well, you have to get my permission to do that," said Yuan as he landed next to the other warrior.

"Ah, it's been a while, Yuan. Glad you noticed. I might have had some trouble with both of them by myself."

"Well, what're old friends for?" Yuan said with a grin. "So, shall we, Kratos? For old times' sake?" he asked as he drew his bladed staff.

"Sure," replied the swordsman, readying his own blade.

They both charged at Xegros, who ran forward to meet them.


	10. Chapter 10: Reunion

Xylek: Xegros and Xylek have such a great friendship… like me and Tiger!

Tiger: Ah, the simplicity of the complexity of guy friendships…

**Chapter 10: Reunion**

"I can't believe they managed to bring Derris-Kharlan back this fast…" Lloyd said, staring wide-eyed into the purple mass of mana that illuminated the night sky.

"That explains where all the mana went," Raine said, joining Lloyd in staring at it. "A spell to translocate a mass that large would have drained a ridiculous amount of mana. Not to mention the caster would have to be exceptionally skilled to execute such a feat successfully."

"Indeed. The caster was most likely Xylek," said Celsius. "He's always been exceeding good with magic."

"But, as a human, how was he able to get so good?" asked Zelos. "I had to have magic transfusions to be able to use my magic, and that's nothing compared to a spell like that. It shouldn't be possible for him to cast spells that powerful."

"There's your first mistake," responded Celsius. "He's not human. He's essentially a half-elf. You can't tell by looking, though."

"A half-elf? But he called me 'half-elf' with disgust…" Genis said trying to analyze their villain's strange behavior.

"That doesn't matter now. They've progressed far faster than we thought they would," Lloyd said, "Kratos will probably wonder why he's back here, and if he runs into Xylek and Xegros, there will be trouble. I'm going to fly over in a rheaird to check things out."

"But Lloyd-" Sheena started.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm not going to fight, just to look at the situation," Lloyd said putting his hand on Sheena's shoulder to reassure her, "I promise."

Lloyd walked off to get one of the rheairds.

"That's… very unlike him," Regal commented. "He normally doesn't make such level-headed decisions."

"He's still not sure what to think of Xylek and Xegros," Colette said, knowing how conflicted Lloyd was. She wasn't sure herself, after what she had heard from her friends, she didn't believe they were truly evil, but was also afraid they could hurt innocent people.

"Well, Xylek spared his life. Everyone's, if you look at it," said Raine. "He could have killed everyone when we were all in bad condition. He didn't though, and I suppose Lloyd isn't sure what to think of that. He's acting very pragmatically."

"Yeah, Lloyd showing a fair amount of logic and caution. Scary…" Genis said with a shudder as a rheaird flew by overhead, heading towards where Derris-Kharlan floated over the planet.

Kratos and Yuan charged side-by-side, their paces perfectly matched.

"Just like old times, eh, Kratos?" Yuan asked as the two charged at their foe.

"Yes, and we even have an old acquaintance to warm up on," Kratos responded as his blade collided with Xegros' own sword.

"I hope you aren't implying that I'm a warm-up," Xegros said as he threw Kratos back several feet as Yuan attacked from the side. "I'll rip you to shreds if you underestimate me."

"Ha, you lack any form of skill with a blade. It looks like you just flail your sword around. You'd be just as effective with a stick," Yuan said as his bladed staff slammed into Xegros' blade, who had barely parried the attack after forcing Kratos back.

"Did you know that blades and armor all conduct electricity magnificently?" Yuan said as Xegros' eyes grew wide with sudden fear.

Yuan discharged a large burst of lightning form his blade which flowed effortlessly through Xegros' sword and armor sending him flying in a large explosion. The armored warrior was blown back several feet, shocked by his foe's power. "Maybe I should supplement that," Kratos said as he began casting a spell. "Thunder Blade!"

The large sword crashed into the ground next to Xegros and discharged a large amount of electricity into the already dazed swordsman, knocking him to the ground. He laid there motionless, smoke slowly rising from his armor as small sparks of electricity randomly danced along him.

"That was rather… anti-climactic," commented Yuan. "I was sure he'd be able to stand after that. Oh well, I guess we can work on his friend now," he said as he glanced sideways at Xylek, who was still sitting on the rock he had been the whole time. Xylek looked at them, and then at Xegros, and, for some reason, began _laughing_.

"Xegros, get up you moron. I'm not helping, so playing dead like that isn't going to make me stand up. If you can't handle these two by yourself, how the hell are you going to govern the planet?" Xylek said as he calmed his laughter.

Xegros twitched, and then began to stand up, brushing dirt off of his armor as he rose. "You're an ass, you know that?" he said as he cracked his neck.

"Yes, I am."

"Heh, I didn't think that was enough," said Yuan as he readied his blade again.

"Alright, this time it's for real," Xegros said as the red runes on his armor pulsed and a giant fireball erupted from the tip of his sword, which shot out at the two warriors.

Kratos and Yuan both dodged the fireball with ease as they charged into melee range. Kratos, using his complex swordsmanship, began slashing at Xegros with a flurry of attacks. Xegros was barely able to parry the attacks as Yuan leapt over his head and struck him in the back. Xegros staggered forward from the blow, and Kratos promptly stabbed him in the chest. Or, would have, if the armor hadn't turned the blade aside.

"Damned armor," Kratos said as his blows glanced off. "Maybe we should aim for the breaks in the armor at the joints," he said to Yuan as they both positioned themselves on either side of Xegros.

"Won't work," said Xegros as he crouched into an unusual stance. "I'm not going to give you any more breathing room. I hope you haven't gotten rusty in these 4000 years, because I want to enjoy this before I remove your heads."

There was no time for comment as Xegros lunged at Kratos with speed that nobody wearing a suit of armor should be able to move at. Kratos barely got his blade up to deflect the attack. The sheer force of the blow forced Kratos' feet several inches down into the dirt. Yuan rushed to his aid, but Xegros leapt into the air with a flip and fired several fire balls at both of them. Kratos deflected a few of them, and Yuan rolled out of the way as they blasted craters into the ground where they landed. Before both swordsmen could regain their focus, Xegros was between them again, the runes on his armor glowing.

"Explosion!"

The giant blast of fire threw both Kratos and Yuan back a long ways as they landed on the ground.

"I don't remember him being this fast," Kratos said as he slowly stood, wincing from the injuries the explosion had caused.

"No kidding," Yuan agreed, kneeling on the ground. "Maybe a head-on approach won't work on him, even if it is 2v1."

Kratos nodded, and both warriors' wings materialized on their backs. The both flew into the air as they began chanting the words to their sacred spells. Xegros ran at them at a dead sprint, covering the distance in mere seconds. He jumped into the air, but Yuan had already stopped chanting as he flew to meet the swordsman of fire in midair.

"Midair combat is not your forte," said Yuan as he easily Xegros' attacks. "Especially since you can't fly."

"Who said I can't fly?" remarked Xegros as a large fireball materialized behind him, which then exploded.

"Oh shit," Yuan said as he saw Xegros flying at him with unavoidable speed, not giving him enough time to prepare for the coming impact.

Xegros grabbed Yuan and they struggled in mid-air, though Xegros clearly had the advantage. Kratos had finished his incantation, but was unable to strike without catching his partner in the blast. Yuan's eyes went wide as his own weapon was struck from his hand. The sound of a sword ripping through flesh echoed through the air, and both Xegros and Yuan crashed to the ground.

"Yuan!" Kratos yelled as he descended to help.

Xegros stood, and pulled his sword from Yuan's abdomen. "Lucky, you managed to prevent a fatal wound with your struggling, but you can't fly away now, little birdie. Time for you to meet your beloved in the afterlife."

Yuan clinched his teeth, preparing for the pain. At least with it over, he would be with Martel again.

Xegros lifted his sword in the air, poised to stab Yuan through the chest, however Kratos crashed into the gloating swordsman and knocked him away from his wounded friend. Xegros turned, furious that he had been unable to finish his opponent before being interrupted, only to see Kratos standing a few feet away from him, glowing with holy energy.

"What're you… oh crap!" Xegros eyes widened as he realized his mistake once Kratos lifted his blade into the air.

"Shining Bind!"

The surge of holy energy blasted Xegros, sending him flying through the air. Xylek barely got out of the way as his partner slammed into the rock he had been sitting on.

"Hey, watch where you get sent flying. You almost hit me!" he said as Xegros sat up, holding his hand to his head.

Xegros didn't say anything, but he pointed his sword at Xylek and detonated a fireball in his face, which caused Xylek to start coughing from the smoke.

"Alright, Yuan, we need to get out of here. Come on," Kratos said as he helped the injured warrior stand.

Kratos rose from the ground, carrying Yuan over his should, as they made their escape. Not too far from where they had just battled, Kratos saw a rheaird flying towards them. He wondered who it was coming to meet them in midair, but then he recognized the red clothes the pilot wore. He stopped in mid-air, as Lloyd flew up next to them.

"Here, jump on!" he said, seeing that Yuan was injured.

Kratos helped Yuan onto the rheaird, and flew next to it, staring at his son.

"We need to get him some advanced healing. My own healing spells stabilized him, but he needs more," Kratos said.

"Alright. Everyone else is in Mizuho at the moment, so we should head there," Lloyd commented. "Oh… and, well… I'm glad you're alright. I was worried something might happen, so I hurried over. I'm sorry I couldn't help…" he said with a thousand emotions rushing through his mind. Concern for Yuan, regret that he hadn't made it in time to help, along with joy at seeing his father again.

"No, it's fine. I'm glad to see you again, Lloyd," Kratos answered.

"Yeah… we should get to Mizuho though. The others might worry about me,"

"Alright, let's go," Kratos said as they both flew off to the hidden village.

Xylek was cleaning the soot off his armor as Xegros stood there, his posture showing he was thoroughly angry.

"If you had helped, we could have killed them both. Don't you remember that it's because of them we were sealed?" Xegros snapped at his friend.

"Yes, but I have no strength. Do you have any idea how hard that spell was to cast. Not only did I have to drain the mana from the air, I had to supplement it with my own to keep it stable. I wouldn't have been able to do much."

Xegros stared at his friend for a while, and noticed that Xylek was indeed drained of strength. He sighed, and looked up at the glowing mass of Derris-Kharlan.

"I… suppose that it was difficult to move that whole thing here with no error," Xegros said, realizing that he might have been asking too much from his friend, "Fine, but you need to hurry up and recharge."

"What do you mean, 'recharge?' I don't work like a mana battery."

"No, but that does," Xegros said as he pointed to Derris-Kharlan. "You just don't want to do anything for a few days. Stop being lazy and replenish your mana so we can get to work."

"There you go with that 'we' again…" Xylek sighed as he began draining mana from the giant mass currently in orbit. "I was hoping you would forget and let me just rest for a few days. I've done a lot recently."

"You had 4000 years to rest. I want to move ahead with the plan as quickly as possible."

"Yes, yes, enough already. Did you find the entrance?" Xylek inquired.

"It's been sealed shut, but yes, I found the old entrance to the Ginnungagap. It looks like we're going to have to break it open."

Xylek sighed again, knowing that the "we" Xegros used meant him again.

"What would you do without me?" Xylek asked his companion.

"Destroy everything," Xegros said with a laugh.

Xylek wasn't sure whether he was serious or joking.


	11. Chapter 11: A New Ally

**Chapter 11: A New Ally**

Yuan opened his eyes. The room was dark, but he could see light shining in through the curtains on the window. He looked around trying to figure out where he was, but to no avail. The last thing he remembered was his vision fading over the village of Mizuho.

The door opened startling him and a girl walked in. "Are we doing better?" she asked cheerfully.

"I suppose," he answered. "Where am I?"

"You're in Altimira. Your friends brought you here after you passed out from blood loss," she responded, "I'm just making sure you were doing ok. Everyone else is in Master Bryant's room."

"I should go tell them what's happened,"

"That wouldn't be a good idea, you've lost a lot of blood so you should get more rest. Besides, Kratos can explain what happened. I'll be back later to be sure you're still alright."

Yuan started to get up, but a glare from the girl made him sit back down before he could disagree.

"Ah, thanks," Yuan said back. He realized this must be Altimira's medical complex. He put his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes as the girl walked out. He was going to need to be at full strength for what he knew was coming.

"Kratos! We're so glad to see you again!" Genis said, exuberant about Kratos' return.

"Yeah, it's nice to have you back," Colette said.

Kratos simply sighed. Everyone seemed a bit too energetic considering the situation.

"Ooh, so you're Lloyd's dad?" Marta asked, staring at Kratos. "I don't see much resemblance. Are you sure?" She began looking closely at Kratos, and Emil pulled her back.

"I'm sorry about that. She's a bit… blunt sometimes," he apologized.

"It's fine," Kratos replied, dismissing the comment with wave of his hand.

"He soooo cool, too!" Marta started again. "Lloyd, you should act more like him."

Emil covered his face with his palm, and Lloyd stood there, seemingly irritated.

"What?" she asked, confused by everyone's reactions.

"You're being a bit… abrasive. Tone it down," Sheena whispered in her ear. She blushed and walked over to Emil.

"I'm glad everyone is in good spirits about Kratos being back, but we need to discuss the issue at hand," Raine said as everyone's attention shifted to her. "So far, we've been completely brushed aside by Xylek and Xegros. Their power is just too overwhelming."

"Heh," smirked Kratos, and everyone looked at him. "Neither of them has shown their true strength yet. It seems that they have total control over three of the elements, yet they fight with swords and small spells. What would happen if they unleashed all of their power in a fight?"

This realization made everyone's eyes widened as they saw the true danger they faced. Not a word was spoken for several minutes until the silence was interrupted as the door opened and a girl poked her head in.

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting?" she said after seeing everyone's expression.

"No, come in Stacie," Regal said. "Everyone, this is Stacie. She's a nurse that works here at our medical center. I had her check on Yuan to be sure he was okay."

"Ah, yes," she said as she walked in. "I, uh, checked on Yuan like you asked, and, uh, he's doing alright. He's still resting though." She seemed a bit tongue-tied, and kept glancing at Regal, though no one seemed to notice. "Is Master Bryant doing well?"

"Yes, thanks for asking. My arm and shoulder are recovering very well. Could you get some refreshments for our guests?"

"Absolutely! I'll be right back with them," she said as she turned to head out the door, and she abruptly ran into Zelos. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," she said.

"No, it's alright," he replied. "Say, cutie, you want to ditch this place go get something to eat? To, you know, make up for running into me?" he asked as he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Ah, Zelos, I wouldn't-" Regal's warning was cut off short as Zelos was thrown across the room and his head made a nice whole in the wall.

"I have to go get drinks for the guests. I suggest that you not touch me again, especially after wanting me to abandon my duty here taking care of Reg- err, the patients," she said, flustered, before promptly turning and walking out the door.

"I like her," Sheena said to Celsius, who was also smiling at the current situation.

Efreet walked up to Zelos, who still had his head stuck in the wall, and pulled him out.

"The hell kinda nurses you have here, Regal? Nurses aren't supposed to injure people!" Zelos said, brushing flecks of paint out of his hair.

"The nurses here often treat people injured in disputes at the casino, so they are all trained in various forms of martial arts in case the patrons get a little… unruly. Stacie is probably the most proficient of the nurses in that department. She also doesn't like guys flirting with her, so for your safety, I think you should keep your distance."

"No kidding…" Zelos said, pulling drywall out of his ear.

"Ah, well, back to what we were talking about," Regal said as everyone finished stifling their laughs at the embarrassed chosen.

"So, Xylek and Xegros haven't shown their true strength yet?" Lloyd asked Kratos.

"Exactly. They don't have much choice though. To unleash that much power could kill them. I was just stating that none of you have any idea what they're capable of, save for the summon spirits here," he said gesturing to Efreet and Celsius.

"To put it mildly, with just my power alone, Xegros could blast this entire island off the planet. Also remember, they both posses half of Shadow's power," Efreet said.

"How are we supposed to fight that?" asked Genis.

"We have to level the playing field, so that's why we have a trump card," Celsius said.

"Oh yeah, that other warrior you mentioned. The one whose pact is with Luna and Aska," Raine said, going into ruin mode from thinking about how they were to summon such a warrior.

"Calm down, Professor," Lloyd said, alarmed as she began hyperventilating. "There aren't more artifacts to collect. Remember, this warrior was sealed with the intent of being released."

"Ah, yes, that person…" Kratos said, cryptically. "I do believe that would tip the scales in our balance."

"You know about this person?" asked Sheena.

"Yes, they're another warrior from the Kharlan War. They're similar to Xylek and Xegros in the fact that they, too, have armor forged by the summon spirits. Specifically, they use the power of Light," he said. "They're currently sealed at the Tower of Mana, where Luna and Aska are. We should definitely release them and ask for their help."

"Ask?" Regal said.

"Yes, ask. They may choose not to help us. They don't like me or Yuan particularly much, and they hated Mithos with a passion. Perhaps if they heard the situation…"

"Do we have to use their help?" asked Lloyd. "If Xylek and Xegros were sealed by the Eternal Sword, can't we do it again?"

"No, you can't. Not anymore, at least," said Efreet. "Not after they stole our powers as summon spirits. Not only would you need the full power of us spirits to seal them, to seal them while they have our power would cause massive destruction, as all form of control over fire, ice, and shadow would be removed. The mana would become chaotic and, well, you can guess what would happen then."

"Yes… I thought as much," said Raine, who had finally stopped frothing at the mouth. "Their next goal is most likely going to be finding the Ginnungagap, if they want to seal Niflheim."

"Do what?" said Emil, hearing this for the first time. "I thought Ratatosk sealed it shut."

"Seals can be broken," said Yuan as he limped into the room. He almost fell over as Presea caught him.

"Yuan, you shouldn't be walking around," said Raine. "The air has yet to be saturated with mana, so I can't use my stronger healing spells. You should recover naturally until I can fix you up."

"No, it's fine. I have more of a grasp on the situation than most of you here, so I need to be in this discussion."

"Alright, let's hear it," said Lloyd after Yuan made his way to a chair.

"Their goal is to prevent Ratatosk from removing the mana from the world. They've discerned that the only reason Ratatosk would do this is to seal Niflheim. They intend to destroy the old seal and establish a new one, consuming the entirety of Derris-Kharlan in the process."

"That much mana for a seal? Absurd!" Raine said, thinking about the magical energy that much mana could provide.

"The seal is intended to last forever," Kratos said. "Their goal right now may seem benevolent, but to them, it's just another step to securing their dominance over the world."

"But, wouldn't this be better for the world?" Emil asked, confused. "If they seal away Niflheim, Richter and Ratatosk wouldn't have to be stuck in the Ginnungagap anymore, and the world could continue to exist forever, right?"

"Don't forget Tenebrae," added Marta.

"Yeah, wouldn't this be good?" Emil finished.

"Well, it would allow the world to remain sustained by mana, but we should remember the end goal of our foes here," Yuan said.

"Yes, we do, but if we let them expend their energy on the seals, then couldn't we defeat them after they're weak?" Lloyd said, thinking deeply about what Kratos said about Xylek and Xegros and their true strength.

"Hmm, they have many valid points," said Efreet. "After they seal away the demons, we should be able to attack them and retrieve our power, which would let Lloyd re-seal them."

"No, we can't re-seal them," Yuan said. "We sealed them before, and they got loose, so this time, we need to finish it for good. We need to eliminate them."

"I agree," said Kratos. "I've seen firsthand the chaos they are capable of causing. They killed thousands of people after the world was split, so Mithos had to find a quick solution to stop them, so we sealed them. This time, we should finish it. We need to go to the Tower of Mana first, though."

"We won't have time for that," Yuan said, looking a bit grim. "I was watching Xegros for a few days, and he located the entrance to the Ginnungagap. They will most likely break into there as soon as possible, so we need to be ready to capitalize."

"What happens if we can't?" asked Marta.

"Then we'll have to fight them with our full strength. With them together, though, I don't know if we can beat them," Yuan answered.

"What do you mean, 'together' we can't beat them?" Zelos asked.

"Xylek and Xegros have been friends for a very long time. In that time, they developed their skills as swordsmen, working together. Therefore, when fighting along each other, they complement the other's strengths while covering their weaknesses. Fighting them together will only work to their advantage," Kratos said. "Xegros is an extremely aggressive fighter, while Xylek is a defensive fighter. When we go on the offensive, Xylek will be at an advantage, while on the defensive, Xegros will. They are opposites in style, but they perfectly complement each other."

Lloyd thought back to the fight with Xylek. Only once did Xylek actually take the initiative in attacking, and whenever someone attacked him, he countered perfectly, incapacitating whoever was attacking. If Xegros were attacking with Xylek playing defensively, Lloyd knew they wouldn't be able to win.

"What if we separate them? Can we do that?" asked Genis.

"Perhaps… Yuan," Kratos said, "if we moved to unseal the other swordsman, would they stop us?"

"No, they don't know that person exists," Yuan answered. "We could unseal them, and move to attack Xylek and Xegros soon after. We should try to defeat Xylek first, though. He'll be the most exhausted from the sealing process, as Xegros will be of no help."

"Xegros won't be of any help?" asked Colette.

"No, Xegros is terrible at complex spells. It just happens that fire spells are the least complex to use, so he's only proficient in them, and a few shadow-based ones as well," Celsius said. "If they are to make an unbreakable seal, Xylek will have to do it alone."

"So we wait and attack while Xylek is weakest!" Lloyd said, with some excitement seeing a way to beat this seemingly invincible foe..

"Hey, would anyone mind telling me who this 'other warrior' is?" Raine said, beginning to change to ruin mode again. "I want to know if there are any writings on them."

"Yes, they were known as the Radiant Warrior," Yuan answered the curious professor as Stacie walked back into the room.

"Here are the refreshments you asked for, Regal-sama!" she said with excitement.

She handed out the beverages to the various heroes, oblivious to the seriousness of the conversation that had just been held in this room. She started to give Zelos his drink, but "tripped" and spilled it on him. She shrugged and walked out, seemingly in a good mood.

"That girl is evil," the chosen said as he tried to dry himself off.

"No, Zelos, it's just you," replied Sheena, amused at Zelos' frustration and the fact that his beverage was dripping from his hair.

"Poor, poor Zelos," said Marta.

Xegros stood before the gate of the Ginnungagap, channeling his power into his blade, ready to make a grand entrance. "Alright, let's blow this wide open," he said as the runes on his armor pulsed and he leapt through the air, sword blazing. His blade struck the seal on the door, which promptly shattered.

"Easy! Ratatosk is getting rusty. It's a good thing we're taking over this job, that way it gets done right," he said.

"If you say 'we' again, I'm going to-" Xylek didn't finish as a blast of fire knocked him over.

"Hey, what the hell was that for?" he asked, looking at Xegros, who shrugged. They both looked at the opened door to the Ginnungagap, and saw Richter/Ratatosk standing there, with Tenebrae floating nearby.

"Oh, so you wanted to say hi before leaving? How nice. Now move," Xegros said, as Xylek stood back up.

"Not going to happen," answered Tenebrae.

"I didn't address you," said Xegros as his blade flashed and a large fireball erupted from the tip at the Centurion. Tenebrae, not expecting the sudden attack, took the hit directly in the face. The fireball, being much more destructive than it looked, reduced Tenebrae to his core form.

"We don't feel like messing around. As a matter of fact, we're saving you a lot of work, and even letting you go free. You should know better than to think you can oppose us," Xylek said as Richter/Ratatosk's stance tensed up.

"Just leave and we won't stop you. Nobody will be coming to help, as those stupid kids are all still beat up from the thrashing I gave them the other day," Xylek added.

Ratatosk sighed as he knew that what they said was true. "Richter, we should allow them to pass. We can go meet up with the others, and work with them to stop these two. No use dying from being stubborn," he said, wanting nothing more than to get revenge on these two, but even he had learned when it was time to retreat

"Damn, you're right," Richter said back from the same mouth.

"You know, you look like a crazy person," Xegros said, leaning on his sword out of boredom. "I know there are two of you in that body, but it still looks like you're talking to yourself."

They ignored Xegros as they spoke up. "We'll leave, but be sure you don't screw up the seal. Also, don't expect to have your way for much longer."

"Pah! I don't need you telling me how to cast spells, Ratatosk. You know that I'm better at it than even you," Xylek said smugly.

"Still, don't mess up, or you won't have much of a world to rule."

"Just leave, already," said Xegros, agitated. "I might just kill you out of boredom."

"Tch," said Richter as he grabbed Tenebrae's core and left.

"Alright, let's do this. How long is it going to take?" Xegros said as both swordsmen walked into the seal room.

"The more you ask, the longer it'll take. If it's possible, could you just go sit outside or something? I don't need distractions," Xylek answered.

"Fine, fine, but do it right like they said."

Xylek grabbed Xegros and proceeded to throw him out of the Ginnungagap.

"I get the idea, damn!" Xegros said from outside the otherworldly gate.

Xylek spun his sword in his hand and planted it into the ground, runes forming in a circle around him. He reached out with his power, and formed a link with Derris-Kharlan, and began siphoning the mana into the circle at an extremely rapid pace. His hands moved through the air, writing runes and symbols that would form the seal. It would take an entire year normally to write the seal, but Xylek has had nothing but practice for the past 4000. He was going to finish the seal in just one day.

"He's started," said Raine as she sensed the massive surge of mana in the air. "He's dispersing Derris-Kharlan into the air?" trying to figure out how these unheard of events could be happening.

"Yes, instead of directly draining the mana, it's easier to just spread it into the atmosphere and absorb it in massive quantities that way. It's like a wide spray versus a concentrated one," answered Yuan.

"Okay, that made no sense," said Lloyd.

"That's because you're dense," said Genis.

"Well, this means I can use my magic," said Raine as she began absorbing the copious amount of mana in the air. "Revitalize!" she yelled as the healing spell surged outward from her staff. The spell immediately took effect, and everyone felt their injuries from the past few days fade to nothing.

"Wow, such a huge amount of mana made that easy," said Raine, looking at her staff.

"Indeed," Regal said as he sat up and began removing the cast on his arm and shoulder.

"Stacie," he called, and she appeared out of nowhere.

"Yes, Master Bryant?" she asked eagerly.

"I need you to fetch me some of my clothes. Nothing nice, though. I'm going to be a bit 'busy' soon."

She nodded, but didn't move. She had noticed that without the bandages, Regal was shirtless causing a wide smile to form across her face as she admired Regal's toned figure. Marta smiled as she had a guess why Stacie didn't like guys flirting with her, and she casually walked up to her and poked her in the side of the face.

"You're starting to drool," Marta whispered.

Stacie abruptly stood straight up, blushed, and ran to fetch Regal his clothes. Everyone began making preparations to go to the Tower of Mana.

The heroes arrived at the Tower of Mana and began working their way through the rubble that was left after it was toppled.

"I wonder if the seal is still intact," said Lloyd.

"Oh, my poor ruins!" Raine said once again entering ruin mode as she began digging through the ruined ruins, looking for anything that could shed mysterious on the past. The rest of the group, used to Raine's random bouts of insanity, continued looking for the seal.

"Regal, that shirt's… interesting. I didn't know you had a skin-tight neon-green shirt like that," Zelos said. "Seems a bit unusual for a noble to have something like that."

"Yes, I don't recollect owning a shirt like this, but Stacie brought it, so where else would she get it?"

Marta grinned, and Sheena sighed. Colette looked at them, confused at what they were reacting to.

"Here it is!" Genis yelled, having found the seal.

"Surprisingly intact," Yuan noticed as he examined the seal. "That'll make this easier."

He and Kratos stood in front of the seal and held out their hands. Mana began swirling around in the middle of the seal, forming into an orb. The orb held its shape temporarily, and it then flattened. It bent into the symbol for "light," and exploded, knocking everyone back. Once the dust had settled, everyone stood, staring with their mouths agape, as a warrior clad in armor that seemed to be forged from pure gold and ivory stood in the middle of the seal.

"You're the Radiant Warrior?" asked Lloyd, the first to speak.

"I am. What is the reason I am unsealed?" the warrior answered back.

"We need your strength," Lloyd replied. "Two other swordsmen, ones with evil intentions, want to harm this world. Will you help us protect it?"

"The names of the swordsmen?" the warrior inquired with a voice that bellowed with authority.

"Xegros," Lloyd said.

The Radiant Warrior visibly flinched, and said, "If Xegros is one, then I know who the other is."

The warrior glanced at Kratos and Yuan, and then at Lloyd, who looked back into the warrior's eyes. "Fine, I shall help. How long has it been since the war?" the warrior inquired again, now taking notice of the surroundings.

"4000 years, give or take," answered Raine, who was actually drooling at the chance to examine their new guest.

The Radiant Warrior sighed, looked around again, and said, "Fine. Allow me time to fully awaken, and I shall help you in any way I can."

The group gladly accepted their new member, and they began traveling out of the ruins to the rheairds parked outside the rubble. As they moved, Zelos moved close to Lloyd and leaned in to whisper something to him.

He asked, "Are you as surprised as me?"

Lloyd responded, "About what?"

"About the fact that the Radiant Warrior is a woman!"

"Zelos, that's because you're a sexist snob. Women can fight too," Sheena said, startling the chosen, since he didn't think that she could hear him.

"I'm going to go see what kind of woman she is," he said as he slinked off to the Radiant Warrior.

"Oh my…" Sheena said as she bowed her head in disgust.

"This is going to end badly," Lloyd added.

Zelos quickly moved up next to the Radiant Warrior, and leaned in to whisper something in her ear. Nobody heard what he said, but the warrior promptly stopped, turned, grabbed him by his shirt, and threw him through the air. He was thrown far enough that his yell faded away.

"I'd estimate he's beaten us to the rheairds," Regal said with a sigh.

"I'm terribly sorry about that," Sheena quickly said to the warrior as they moved on. "He's a lecherous pig when it comes to women."

"Don't worry," she replied back. "I needed a good stretch, and I think I've found a sparring partner that I won't need to go easy on.

Sheena nodded, and realized that they would get along just fine.


	12. Stoking the Flames of a Guttered Heart

**Chapter 12: Stoking the Flames of a Guttered Heart**

Xylek worked furiously, inscribing rune after rune into the door of Niflheim. The mana of Derris-Kharlan was being rapidly drained and channeled into the runes. The door no longer showed signs that the demons on the other side were trying to get through, the seal effectively repelling them. Soon, the door would be complete. There would no longer be a threat of world destruction by the malevolent spirits on the other side.

All this effort for his friend, Xegros. All of this, so that his friend can have the world. All of this… Xylek stopped thinking as he inscribed the final rune in place. His vision blurred such a powerful spell taking an incredible toll on his body. Finally able to rest after such an experience, he passed out on the ground in front of the newly completed seal. Xegros walked into the seal room, and seeing his friend laying on the ground in front of the seal, he smiled a little. He knew Xylek would never betray him, and would help him realize his dream. A dream few can truly comprehend…

Raine jumped awake, feeling the mana in the air change. She looked around, and then looked into the night sky the group had all camped under. She saw the stars, distant spots in the heavens, and she saw the two moons floating in the sky. What she didn't see, on the other hand, was the floating mass of Derris-Kharlan.

"So it's finished already…" Kratos said, walking up and startling the Professor.

"What?" she responded.

"It seems that Xylek has already finished the seal on Niflheim. Though, to do it in such a short amount of time, he would have had to exert himself to the point of near death," he observed as he stared at the place in the sky that no longer glowed with the mass of mana. "It's a good thing I had all of the facilities and inhabitants moved to the ground, or else they might have been destroyed when Derris-Kharlan finally dematerialized."

"That's good," Raine said, still amazed that so much mana had already been consumed. "For Xylek to be even capable of doing this is amazing. I would almost want to study under him, to increase my own spellcasting abilities."

"I wouldn't recommend that," said the Radiant Warrior as she walked over to join the conversation.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" asked Raine. "We're going to need you at full strength tomorrow when we assault the Ginnungagap."

"What do you think I was doing for those 4000 years I have been sealed away? If I were awake for that amount of time, I would have gone absolutely mad. I'm ready for tomorrow, so just worry about yourself."

"Ah," said Raine, thinking about the impact of 4000 years alone might have on the mind. "Why wouldn't you recommend learning magic from Xylek, exactly?" she inquired of the warrior, who seemed to stare at the sky.

"He doesn't like children," she said, surprising Raine with this comparison.

"Hey, wait a second! What do you mean by 'children?' I'm no child," she replied, getting red in the face.

"You are inquisitive, emotional, and young. Keep in mind that, compared to myself, you are the age of a child," the Radiant Warrior asserted.

"Well, how do you know Xylek doesn't like children?" Raine asked, trying to govern her irritation with the truth of the warrior's words.

"That… doesn't matter. Your group will need to be able to handle him while I take care of Xegros. If you can't do that, then we will fail. And I will not accept failure," she said to Raine in a tone that would have scared even the toughest of soldiers.

"Oy, what's going on over here, ladies?" Zelos said as he walked over after noticing that there was a discussion going on. "Oh, and Kratos too," he added, not really caring about the seraph.

"I hope you're not as weak as you are annoying," said the Radiant Warrior as she started to walk off. "If you are, you aren't going to survive tomorrow."

Zelos was sure he saw her smile behind the faceguard that all but obscured her face. It thoroughly scared him, too.

"Alright, everyone needs to get some sleep so we will all be at full strength tomorrow," Kratos announced as everyone made their sleeping arrangements. "Zelos, you're over there."

"What? Why?" Zelos asked, seeing that he was separated from everyone else by a good twenty feet. "Was it one of our beautiful hunnies? I can guess which one…" he said as he shot Sheena a look.

"Actually, it was all of them," Kratos said as he wandered off volunteering to be the lookout for the night.

Zelos' face froze, and he only sighed as he moped over to his isolated tent.

Everyone tried to sleep peacefully that night, but nobody could, knowing what was coming.

The heroes were awoken the next morning as an unexpected guest came across their camp.

"Richter!" Emil shouted as he saw the man who, at one time, had been an enemy.

"And Ratatosk!" added Marta, excited to see old friends.

"Tenebrae would have joined us, but, well, he annoyed Xegros…" Richter said as he held out Tenebrae's core, a solemn look across his face.

"Oh no! Poor Mr. Doggie!" Colette said, saddened to see her friend in this state.

"Don't worry. He reverted to core form to recover, so he'll be alright," Ratatosk said. "I assume the reason you are all camping out here isn't for a picnic," he added as everyone gathered up.

"We're going to go defeat those two," said Lloyd as he fastened his swords to his belt.

"Hmm, it would appear so," Richter observed as he looked at everyone gathered. He stopped when he noticed the golden-armored Radiant Warrior standing off to the side a bit, his eyes opening wide as Ratatosk took possession of their shared body. "You! You're-" he was cut off as Yuan gave a rather hard nudge into his back. They exchanged looks, and Ratatosk understood.

"Very well. We should set out for the Ginnungagap now," Kratos said, deciding to lead the group.

"Hey, I want to go first," said Efreet, annoyed that Kratos had assumed the role of leader.

Celsius stomped on his foot as she gave him a look. He quieted down quite easily. The group mounted up on the rheairds and began the short flight to the opening of the Ginnungagap, where they would confront the two warriors, Xylek and Xegros, in what they were hoping to be the deciding encounter.

Xylek awoke with a startle from his dream. He was still exhausted, and had only begun to recover some of his power. He was nervous, being in such a vulnerable condition, but as he looked over at the sealed door, he drew a little comfort knowing he had been successful. He saw Xegros standing in front of the door, admiring the new seal, and he rose to walk over to his friend.

"Looks nice, doesn't it?" Xylek asked.

"Yeah. Something only you could do in a day, eh?" Xegros remarked back.

"Well, it's done now. What's next?"

Xegros tilted his head as he thought for a second, and then said, "We should travel from city to city, and have them swear loyalty to me."

"People are going to laugh at you. Perhaps you should start with the royalty first. Once they are under your sway, everything else will follow," Xylek said. "For their sake, I hope they don't resist too much."

"You say it as if you don't enjoy the thrill of combat!" Xegros said, slapping Xylek on the back.

Xylek winced, still weak from making the seal. "You didn't when we first set out, all those years ago…"

Xegros saw the look in his friend's eyes as he thought back, and abruptly changed the subject. "Hey, you need to go regenerate the rest of your power. We can't have you being so weak right now. Go do whatever you do to regenerate faster," he said.

"Yes, I suppose so," Xylek said as he cleared his head of his memories. He walked off, planted his sword into the ground, and began synchronizing with the flow of mana. Xegros wondered how out of it Xylek was, since he hadn't noticed their guests had already arrived at the opening to the Ginnungagap. He drew his red-tinted blade and strode out to meet the Heroes of Regeneration (and company).

Everyone stared at the opening to Ginnungagap, anticipating the fight to come, and they were startled as they saw Xegros walking out to meet them so soon.

"Good morning, everyone," he said in a patronizing tone. "So kind of you to come to me so I don't have to hunt you down. It'll make this much faster."

"You're outnumbered, Xegros. Just give up and return the power of the summoned spirits to their rightful owners. You can't defeat all of us," Kratos said, motioning to the large group of the world's heroes that were behind him. "We will stop you and Xylek, and we will kill you if we must."

"Let's just kill him anyway," Efreet growled, his grip on his axes becoming tight. "He stabbed Celsius, so I'll never forgive him."

"Calm down," Celsius said, laying a hand on the humanized spirit's shoulder.

"Give up your delusions of grandeur, Xegros. This planet will never allow you to rule, even if you try to take it by force!" Lloyd yelled, pointing one of his blades at his enemy.

"Raine, did you teach him that?" Genis asked his sister quietly.

"Yes. He wanted to sound imposing, so I helped him come up with what to say. Did you really think our Lloyd could use 'grandeur' in a sentence?"

Sheena sighed at this side conversation. Why did Lloyd have to be like that…

"Hmm, I do believe we've had enough pre-battle posturing," Xegros said as he leapt to the ground from the opening in the air. "Shall we begin?"

At that moment, seeing her opening, the Radiant Warrior dashed out from her hiding spot, and assailed Xegros. Caught off guard, he only barely parried the first attack, but he was unable to stop the following barrage of slashes, kicks, and punches. She sent him flying with a kick to the chest, and everyone else was shocked at how easily she had overpowered Xegros.

"Who the hell are you?" Xegros said as he stood back up. "What's with that armor? How is there another like us? Xylek and I are the only ones who should have this power!" The alarm in his voice gave everyone confidence in their new comrade.

"What are you waiting for? Go!" she yelled. The rest of the heroes stopped gawking and ran for the opening of the Ginnungagap.

Still surprised about there being another warrior who has the power of the summon spirits, Xegros didn't react fast enough to the change in the situation. He tried to call up a wall of flame to block the entrance, but the Radiant Warrior was attacking him again, her swordsmanship being faster than anything he had ever seen.

"Your fight will be with me, Xegros," she said, saying his name with disgust.

"You seem to be a bit angry. Have we met?" he responded, standing and readying his sword again.

Her response was rather simple. She pointed her sword at Xegros, and a beam of light shot out, slamming him in the chest and sending him flying. He had only begun to stand when she began attacking again, striking him again and again. If he didn't have such powerful armor, he knew she would have killed him already, she was much faster than him easily getting his by his defenses. He finally managed to put distance between himself and the Radiant Warrior, and taking advantage of this, his sword blazed and fire shot out from the ground. The many flames came together forming a large dragon that flew over the battlefield.

"Let's see how long you can take the heat," he said, finally calm. He was going to have to defeat his opponent quickly, as he already knew their plan. He knew they planned to kill Xylek before he recovered, but with such a powerful enemy, he wasn't sure he would make it in time. He lunged forward, while the flaming dragon bathed the area in fire.

* * *

Everyone ran as fast as they could, and even after getting quite far in the Ginnungagap, they could feel the tremors of the fight going on outside.

"It's a good thing we aren't out there. I don't even think you could survive watching that fight," Zelos said as the group continued towards the seal room.

"Now do you see what we meant when we told you that you had no idea what they were capable of?" Yuan said.

"Then why did you two try to take on Xegros by yourselves?" Raine asked, meaning Yuan and Kratos.

"Ah, that was…" Yuan couldn't come up with a logical answer.

"Pride as men," Efreet said proudly. "To go up against an old enemy alongside an old friend. There would be few experiences that could be compared to that."

"Exactly!" Zelos said holding his hand up for a high five, though the spirit merely scoffed.

"Zelos, you wouldn't have any idea what that would be like," Presea stated as they arrived at the seal room.

Everyone stopped and stared at the newly sealed door. The complexity of the runes was astounding, and Raine went into ruin mode almost instantly, seeing as how the runes were in a language she didn't know.

"Amazing," Ratatosk said. "To be able to complete that door in such a small amount of time. Simply astounding, even for one as old as me."

"So it's done?" Lloyd asked.

"Yes, it's finished," Kratos answered.

"Good, because I owe this guy a good thrashing," Lloyd said as he pointed to the swordsman, who had yet to move since everyone's arrival.

Xylek stood in the center of the seal room, his sword planted in the ground, and on the ground was a circle of glowing runes that slowly pulsed.

"What's he doing?" asked Marta.

"He's drawing mana from the natural leylines that run through the Ginnungagap," said Richter. "It's allowing him to restore his mana at a steady pace so it remains stable. We need to stop him before he restores too much."

"Gotcha! I'll stop him," Lloyd said as he charged Xylek, who still stood unmoving.

"Wait, Lloyd, don't!" Yuan said, too late, as Lloyd's swords impacted Xylek's breastplate.

The runes on the ground glowed bright, and the circle disappeared. There was a large explosion of mana, and Lloyd was sent flying through the air. He managed to flip in the air and land on his feet, and everyone looked as the mana freed in the explosion was sucked into Xylek's sword.

"That was rude," Xylek said, lifting his sword out of the ground. "When someone is synched with a leyline, it's often a bad idea to just hit them. It can cause rather… large explosions."

"Xylek, return Celsius' and Shadow's power and we might let you live," Yuan said as he leveled his blade at the ebon-clad swordsman.

"No thanks. I'm a more capable owner anyways," he responded, irritating Celsius.

"Fine, then. We will kill you and return the powers to their rightful owners. You made this choice, not us," Kratos said in a rather cold tone.

"Everyone makes choices they'd rather not make. Just like how I'd rather not fight," Xylek said.

"That's because you're weak right now. You can barely put on this façade. We know you won't be able to win. That's why you're trying to make us question our decision," Richter said, drawing his weapons.

"Hah, a weak me is still stronger than you can handle. Who wants to go first?"

"All of us," Regal said.

Everyone charged.

* * *

The Radiant Warrior was frantically dodging the huge plumes of fire the dragon breathed. Even with her armor, that flame would still cause considerable damage. She stepped to the side as another blast consumed the ground where she had just stood. She turned and parried Xegros' attacks as flames raged around them.

"Always so flashy with your spells, Xegros. All the power in the world won't matter if you can't even hit your opponent."

"You talk as if you've known me for a long time. Who are you?" Xegros asked as a serpent of flame erupted from his hand and wrapped around the Radiant Warrior.

"It doesn't matter. Your dreams have become corrupted by the power you desired. You and Xylek will atone for your sins. Even if I must do it myself…" she said as the flames around her were purged with light.

"Wait, you aren't… no, you can't be. You shouldn't exist! Begone, you foul woman!"

She ignored the comment as she chanted her spell.

"Big Bang!"

A small point of light appeared in front of Xegros, and he was frozen in fear, knowing the powerful spell that was coming. That small point rapidly expanded in a massive explosion of light, and he took the full force of the strongest light spell in existence at point-blank range.

* * *

All of the heroes rushed Xylek at once, learning their mistake from the previous fight where he isolated a few fighters at a time in order to decrease the effectiveness of their numbers. This time would be different. Sheena reached him first, and as he slashed, she easily rolled out of the way and placed several explosive seals on him. They detonated, sending him flying towards the others. As he soared through the air, Regal and Presea leapt into the air, and drove him straight into the ground with simultaneous attacks. As soon as he crashed, Efreet and Celsius further smashed him into the ground with their attacks, almost mirroring what Regal and Presea had just done. He cried out in pain from the massive impacts, but before he could get back on his feet and Kratos, Yuan, Colette, and Zelos all unleashed Judgment at the same time, focusing their attacks on his weakened body.

The columns of light descended upon him, shaking the very ground. Genis and Raine combined their powers in a powerful Prism Stars attack, adding to the blast of light. Lloyd leapt into the air and stabbed downwards, just as the magic attacks ended, and successfully pierced Xylek's armor, stabbing him in the chest. The wound was shallow, though, and Lloyd raised his blades for what he hoped was the finishing blow, but he found himself unable to move. Xylek, despite the massive amount of damage he had just taken, had grabbed Lloyd's leg, and with his power of ice, had instantly froze the air around Lloyd, leaving him encased in ice. Lloyd's exsphere glowed, and the ice cracked. Unfortunately, it was too slow, as Xylek launched Lloyd into the air. Lloyd broke free and landed on his feet, but Xylek was already standing.

Blood slowly dripped from the hole in his chest armor as Xylek stood, leaning heavily on his sword for support. He was at his limit, and could barely see. This gave him an idea, and he raised his hand into the air, and a ball of shadow energy formed there. Richter and Emil lunged at him, but his spell finished before they could reach him. The ball of darkness expanded, enveloping the room with all-consuming shadow, which purged all the light from the room. Now, nobody could see.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Marta said, unable to even see her own hand in front of her face.

There was heavy coughing as someone seemed to laugh, and Xylek said "but fourteen warriors against one lone enemy is fair?"

"Your math is off. There are fifteen of us here," Sheena said.

"I didn't count that brat that called me a cheater."

"Hey, I can fight!" Marta yelled, annoyed.

"Not for long," a voice whispered behind her, and she screamed. The scream was cut short, and the room became deathly quiet.

"Marta! Where are you?" Emil yelled, frantically trying to feel his way towards the direction of her scream. He tripped over something, and when he reached out to feel what he had stumbled on, he realized it was Marta. "Marta! Answer me!" he frantically tried to get her to move, but she wouldn't respond.

"Don't worry, she's not dead. Just taking a nap. You can join her…"

Emil slashed at the air towards the voice, and heard Zelos yell out in pain. Zelos, thinking it was Xylek, slashed back, and wounded Emil's shoulder.

"Everyone stop!" Raine yelled, realizing what Xylek was trying to do. "Xylek is trying to trick us into attacking each other. We need to find each other so we can prevent this. I can help Marta, so we should move towards where she screamed from. Ok everyone, go!"

Everyone tried to make their way through the darkness, and eventually, all the heroes were gathered in one place. Raine raise her staff, and found out that she could emit light, allowing them to see a short distance in the darkness.

"Ok everyone, form a ring around me," Raine ordered. Everyone circled around her as she tended to the few injuries they had. All of a sudden, the shadow seemed to move, and Raine's staff was grabbed from her hands, removing the source of light. This startled everyone, who tried to group into the middle where Raine was. Everyone felt around, confirming who was next to them.

"This is terrible. Here I am in this darkness, but I don't have the guts to get a little closer with all the hunnies," Zelos said, somewhat nervous.

"You're a terrible person, you know that?" Sheena said.

"Do we have anyone wearing metal on their arm?" Colette asked.

"Watch out!" Lloyd yelled, but Xylek, who had somehow managed to get into the middle of the group, knocked everyone away with various kicks and throws. They all landed far from each other, and everyone knew that somehow, Xylek had managed to turn the tide of the fight in his favor. Kratos, Yuan, and Regal, all being level-headed in this situation, managed to make out the sound of labored breathing, and knew it was the exhausted ebon-clad knight. They all ran straight at the source of the sound and attacked. Xylek, who was unprepared for this, was sent flying from the combined force of the attacks.

"Damn annoying people!" Xylek coughed out, as the impact had further increased the wound in his chest. Still being able to see in the inky depths, he saw that he was coughing blood. He was in bad shape, and there were three warriors able to determine his location even in this absolute darkness. There was a large explosion from outside the Ginnungagap, and the light from it penetrated all the way to the seal room. Xylek, not knowing how they had managed to occupy Xegros, was shocked by the sheer force of the attack that it would be visible even in the darkness he had made.

"Ha! Xegros was apparently weaker than our other companion," Lloyd said as he tried to take advantage of the light that had briefly illuminated the room. He ran over to Sheena and put his hand on her shoulder, letting her know it was him. They slowly combed through the room and gathered both Marta and Emil into their group, allowing them all a bit more comfort at having allies close.

Xylek didn't inquire further, as speaking would reveal his location since he had managed to mask his labored breathing. It didn't matter though, as he felt another person enter the Ginnungagap, which had been completely flooded with the shadow. This person seemed to cut through the darkness, and it made him nervous. He saw her, armor radiating with light, as she made her way into the seal room. She raised her hand into the air and shouted, "Illumina!"

A ball of light formed in her hand, and much like how his shadow had purged the light, Xylek's shadow was purged from the room. Everyone stood around, the sudden brightness hurting their eyes until they adjusted again, and they all saw the ragged swordsman standing off to the side. He looked like he could barely remain conscious. The Radiant Warrior looked at him, and sheathed her blade.

"Look at you. Beaten up by a bunch of kids. I haven't seen you in this kind of condition in so long, I had almost forgot you could even get hurt," she said to him, and everyone was confused by the tone she had taken. It wasn't one of patronizing, but of pity and sadness.

"My mind must be playing tricks on me," Xylek said, putting his hand to his head. "I'd almost swear you sound just like her, but that's impossible. I thought I had awoken from my dream, but it appears this one just doesn't want to leave me alone."

"Wait, what's going on here?" Raine said, confused. "Just who are you?" she directed at the Radiant Warrior.

Without answering, the Radiant Warrior grasped her helm, and lifted it off. Long black hair spilled out, and she looked at Xylek with cold, blue eyes and smiled a bit. Xylek felt his chest muscles clench as he looked at the woman in front of him. It was impossible. It had to be.

"S-S-Setsuna?" he asked weakly, not trusting his eyes.

She nodded. He stood there, staring for a long time, and then collapsed.

…

Xylek: Oh pretty girl

Tiger: He must be distracted by the shiny, and peanut butter.


	13. Chapter 13: Ancient History

**Chapter 13: Ancient History**

Raine was confused. They had just defeated Xylek, so she thought things would be calming down, but seeing the Radiant Warrior apparently have a connection to their enemies' past made her uneasy.

"What's going on?" asked Lloyd, also confused by these strange events.

"Who are you, and why does Xylek know you?" Genis added.

"She was the third member of their little group. Her, Xylek, and Xegros traveled together during the war," said Celsius, one of the few people who was old enough to understand the situation.

"What? You mean she's one of them?" Lloyd said, looking at the Radiant Warrior and gripping his swords.

"Yes… and no," said Kratos. "She's a bit different than the other two."

"I would like some answers," Regal said calmly. "She helped us, so I'm willing to trust her, for now. Perhaps we should all just sit down and clarify, as to prevent misunderstandings," he said, looking at Lloyd, who took his hands off his blades after getting the hint.

"I will explain things, but now, I need to go tend to his injuries," the Radiant Warrior said as she walked over to the fallen Xylek.

"Wait! We just defeated him! Why are you going to heal him?" Sheena asked, still not sure what was going on.

"I'm going to heal him so he doesn't die. I'm surprised that you were able to injure him this badly," she answered as she kneeled over Xylek and began chanting healing magic.

"Why do you need to save him?" asked Richter, deep in thought.

"Because, well, I'll explain later," she said, irritated at the constant barrage of questions.

Setsuna's healing magic began to take effect, and Xylek coughed as some of his injuries began to lessen. Raine walked over to observe, and then stopped Setsuna's magic.

"That should be enough for him to live. I don't want him to get up and attack us again," she said, looking heavily at the Radiant Warrior.

"He won't attack us, now that he's seen me," she retorted, and proceeded to continue healing him.

"When you said you were surprised we were able to injure him this badly, did that mean you expected us to lose?" Genis asked.

"No, not lose, but I thought that I would arrive before it got this bad. I'm especially shocked that one of you pierced his armor," she said, looking at the various blade users. "Which one of you did that?"

"That was me," Lloyd said, somewhat proudly. "We all focused our attacks, and I managed to pierce through his chest."

"I see…" she commented, looking at the hole in Xylek's armor. "Well, he's healed up enough now, so if some of you gentlemen would be so kind, could you lift him and carry him out?"

"What? You can't do that? But you're so strong…" Genis said.

"You would make a lady carry a big brute like that? How shameful," Zelos said. "Of course I'll help… Setsuna, was it?"

"Yes, my name is Setsuna," the Radiant Warrior answered. "It will take more than just you though."

"You doubt my strength? I'm the Chosen of Tethe'alla! I can handle this-" he stopped talking when he tried to lift Xylek. He continued to strain himself, and his face began turning various shades of blue. "Holy hell! How much does this guy weigh? I thought you were heavy, Regal, but this guy takes the cake."

Presea walked over to Xylek and, in one motion, lifted him over her head. To her surprise, though, he was still very heavy, and she had difficulty moving.

"Ah, here Presea, you get the head, and I'll get the feet," Colette said, running to help.

Together, they held Xylek in the air with somewhat ease and began walking out of the Ginnungagap.

"Men are useless, it seems," Raine said as she followed them.

"No, it's just that the women we have are freakin' insane," Zelos said, and Sheena promptly elbowed him in the ribs. "See what I mean?"

"Yes, quite insane," Emil said as he was dragged along by Marta, who refused to let go of his hand.

The rest of the group followed, and they all came to the exit.

"What happened here? It looks like there was a war," Lloyd said as he looked at the scorched ground outside the exit.

"That would be the results of my battle with Xegros," Setsuna answered as she looked around. "Hmm, it seems he managed to crawl off somewhere. That's a minor problem, though, so we should continue. We should find somewhere to camp for the night, as I'm sure none of you want Xylek to be in a city or village."

Much of the group wasn't paying attention as they looked at the area. All the ground was scorched and black, and there were craters of varying size that littered the ground. They were shocked at the intensity of the battle that had to have taken place to cause this sort of destruction. They looked at Setsuna with new eyes, and were glad she was on their side and not the side of her previous comrades. They knew they couldn't win if they had to fight all three ancient warriors. Though, why she helped them instead of Xylek and Xegros still remained to be a mystery. One that, hopefully, would be solved that night after they made camp.

Everyone sat around the fire, eating the dinner that Genis and Regal had prepared for them. Though it was delicious, nobody seemed to care as they all looked at Setsuna expectantly.

"I suppose you all deserve some answers. First, I'll explain why I helped you. It's was actually for his sake," she said as she pointed at Xylek. "Xylek cares too much for his friends, and Xegros was going to use that to make Xylek do things he'd rather not."

"But Xylek attacked us as soon as we unsealed him! He seems a bit violent," said Lloyd.

"Yes, because the summon spirit Shadow was present. I've gotten the gist of what happened before you all released me," Setsuna said. "Shadow knew Xylek would attempt to unseal Xegros, so he wanted to stop him. Xylek simply reacted in kind."

"And the reason he stole the powers of Shadow and Celsius?" Raine questioned, not willing to just trust Xylek without hearing more..

"He needed the power to match Xegros, who would have stolen the power even if Xylek hadn't. They have always been equals in power, which made them an even stronger pair when fighting together. Xylek needed to be strong enough to help Xegros. Like I said, he cares too much for his friends."

"Well, why didn't he unseal you, if you're his friend too?" Marta asked.

"Because he thought she was dead," Yuan answered before Setsuna could speak. "There was a reason we sealed Xylek in addition to Xegros."

"We?" asked Emil, confused yet again.

"Yes, 'we.' Myself, Kratos, and Mithos. At that time, Martel had already…" Yuan looked down, and Kratos put his hand on his shoulder.

"And that reason was?" Regal asked Kratos, as it seemed Yuan had gone into a state of brooding over his memories.

"When the world was split, Setsuna had ended up in Sylvarant while Xylek and Xegros were in Tethe'alla. When Mithos refused to allow either of them to go to the other world, Xylek went berserk. Flanoir used to be attached to the mainland, but Xylek destroyed much of the land there, leaving the island you all know of now," Kratos said.

"That sounds like Mithos was the bad guy in that situation," said Colette. "It wasn't very nice of him to keep them separated."

"His reason was-" Kratos started, but Setsuna interrupted.

"His reason was a load of crap. He said that if all three of us were together, we would surely try to overthrow the new world order he had established. It didn't help that Xegros was a human, either. After Martel was killed, Mithos went mad. I think he did it just to spite us," she said, getting worked up. "I learned that he sealed Xylek away, and Xegros too, so I asked him to do the same for me. Before I was sealed though, I made new pacts with both Aska and Luna in order to create this armor," she said, referencing the golden suit of armor she was still wearing.

"You're a summoner?" Sheena asked.

"Yes, I was a summoner. I held pacts with almost half of the summon spirits. Mithos claimed he needed the power of all the spirits to save the Great Kharlan Tree, so I willingly annulled my pacts for him. I also helped create the armor that both Xylek and Xegros wear. Kratos, I don't want to hear you try to defend Mithos' actions. If you try to again, I will kill you. Not because you helped him, but because you refused to stop him. You, of all people, should know what Xylek is going through" she said, turning a glare on the old warrior.

"Hey, if you plan to hurt Kratos I'll-" Lloyd began, but Kratos stopped him.

"Yes, I understand the situation he's in," Kratos said, looking at Xylek, seeing himself in the ancient warrior.

"What situation?" Zelos asked.

"He's helping Xegros, even though Xegros has lost his grasp on sanity. His dream wasn't a world that he ruled over forever, but a world that would be at peace forever," Setsuna said. "Unfortunately, after all the fighting and chaos of the war, his outlook changed, and he determined that in order to realize his dream, he would have to take control of everything. Xylek and I were going to try to bring his way of thinking back, but Mithos messed it all up. After 4000 years of solitude for him to brood, I doubt there's any way to save him now." She looked down, sad at the way events had played out all those years ago.

"But Xylek was also sealed for 4000 years. Isn't he insane from that, too?" Lloyd asked, thinking about the things that Setsuna had said.

"He's quite sane, thank you," Xylek said, sitting up.

Everyone jumped up and placed their hands on their weapons. Xylek simply laughed at the situation.

"Jumpy tonight, aren't we? You act as if I even have the strength to attack you all. I can't even stand up…" he said weakly.

Xylek sat there as everyone slowly sheathed their weapons and sat back down, still staring warily at the man who had not too long ago been trying to kill them. He looked around at everyone, and then seemed to fall back to the ground, and he was out again.

"He probably won't be able to stand before tomorrow morning," said Setsuna. "He's gone through a lot of mental shock recently, anyways. I can only imagine what went through his head when he saw me," she said, looking down.

"I know what went through my head when I saw you take off that helm," Zelos said with a grin. Shadow, who had been sitting on Sheena's shoulder, was suddenly next to Zelos. "Hey, what're you- OUCH!" Zelos yelled as Shadow bit down hard on his hand. In a poof, Shadow was once again perched on Sheena's shoulder.

"Thank you, Shadow," Setsuna said.

"I get the feeling that you and Xylek had a special connection?" Sheena asked.

"You could say that," Celsius said. "She was an assassin hired to kill him. It's funny how things turn out though. I mean, for you to-" Efreet held her mouth shut as he inserted himself into the conversation.

"I do believe, if anyone were to tell that story, Xylek would be the one to do it. Though, for a less detailed version, remember the look in Xylek's eyes when we encountered him in the forest outside Mizuho."

"Mizuho? There's a place named Mizuho?" Setsuna said, looking up with wide eyes.

"Yes, it's my village. I can take you there, if you'd like," Sheena said, curious why the name "Mizuho" had elicited such a response.

"Hmm, yes, I'd like that. I'm just surprised that after 4000 years it would still have that name," Setsuna commented. "Alright. I'm done telling stories of the past for the night. We can continue this in the morning," she said as she walked to her tent.

Everyone was disappointed, as they all still had questions, but they all went to their tents for the night as well.

Lloyd awoke to the sound of Genis yelling.

"He's gone! Xylek's gone!"

'Damn,' thought Lloyd. He knew they should have had someone watch him, but everyone had been so tired from the day they had all gone to sleep. He quickly got up, dressed, grabbed his swords, and ran out seeing all the panic. Everyone was in varied states of readiness, and he saw most of them had just woken up. Sheena's hair was a spectacular mess, and he pointed to it with a raised eyebrow. She realized this, and, red-faced, quickly ran into her tent to fix it.

"Setsuna's gone, too!"

Lloyd cursed. So she had betrayed them anyways. Everyone was still running around when someone yelled.

"What's all this running around for? Did you lose something?" Xylek asked as he walked out of the trees.

Everyone stopped and looked at him as he stood there, oblivious as to why they would be panicking at his disappearance. They noticed that, slung over his shoulder, was a large animal.

"I caught breakfast," he said. "What?" he asked as everyone looked at him with wide eyes.

Setsuna came running from the trees Xylek had just walked out from, carrying various plants and herbs in her arms. Nobody was sure what to say, though, so they continued to stare at the two.

"It's been 4000 years since I've even seen Setsuna, so I wanted to cook something. You are all welcome to it, as well, but I would much prefer it if you would stop staring at me," Xylek said as he made his way to the cooking supplies.

"This is… weird," said Emil.

Regal walked over to where Xylek had begun preparing the meat, and began helping. Raine walked over to Setsuna and asked what was going on.

"Oh, he's a bit weird like this. He likes to cook breakfast," she said.

"But, just yesterday we were trying to kill each other!" Lloyd yelled, not liking the current situation.

"Perhaps, but considering how I am now a 'prisoner' of sorts, I would like to be able to at least do this much," Xylek said. "I may even tell a story with breakfast, depending on the kind of mood I'm in, so if you'd stop treating me like a monster I'd greatly appreciate it."

Lloyd glared at Xylek, remembering the injuries he had given everyone. He then remembered the time Xylek had spared his life, and became less apprehensive. Perhaps they could hear him out. Setsuna walked over, nudging Regal away from Xylek as he prepared the food.

"Ah, I was watching. I wanted to see how he was going to mix those herbs!" Regal protested.

"He doesn't like to share cooking secrets. Go sit and wait," Setsuna said as she walked back to help Xylek cook the food.

Regal was rather disappointed as he walked over to his seat. Everyone laughed, not used to seeing this side of the duke.

Everyone sat around, looking at the meal before them. Regal and Genis were both examining the food, trying to discern the methods used to prepare it, but everyone else still felt ill at ease. In fact, the only ones who seemed to be at peace were Xylek and Setsuna, who were sitting together talking quietly. Lloyd looked at his food, and then took a bite.

"Whoa! This is… good," he said, surprised at the flavor of the food. Everyone else began eating, and the looks on their faces explained what they thought as well.

"It's almost better than Regal's cooking," Genis said, knowing he couldn't compete and simply choosing to enjoy the food. Regal, on the other hand, thought deeply as he chewed, and it seemed he had an epiphany as he ate.

"Ha! So that's what you did. Very creative… I'll try that next time," he said.

Xylek and Setsuna were oblivious to the various opinions to the food as they were still engaged in conversation. Xylek took off his helm to eat, and everyone saw the face of the man who they had defeated. Much to everyone's surprise, he looked quite young, appearing only a few years older than Lloyd, who was only nineteen years old. Setsuna also appeared to be of similar age. Xylek had somewhat short hair, and it was a deep, dark blue. In strike contrast to the armor he wore and the hair on his head, his eyes were a bright emerald green, so bright they almost seemed to glow.

Lloyd looked at these eyes, and they were not the eyes he had looked into in the clearing outside of Mizuho. Where they used to be full of sadness and loneliness, they were now filled with joy. It was as if they belonged to a new person, but Lloyd finally understood why Xylek had changed. He had gone from a man whose sole purpose was to help his friend, to someone who was filled with his own purpose again. And Lloyd got a sense that he understood that purpose as he looked at the person who had revived Xylek from his state of mourning. Setsuna sat there next to him, and Lloyd saw a connection that was deeper than simply friends. Perhaps Xylek would explain the history behind that connection.

**Xylek: Real men can cook.**

**Tiger: When is the last time you cooked something that didn't involve a microwave?**


	14. Chapter 14: Story Time

**Chapter 14: Story Time**

Everyone was full from the delicious breakfast that their new "guest" Xylek had made. They were amazed by his cooking prowess, but one of them paid it no heed as she confronted him.

"You! Give my powers back!" shouted Celsius as she pointed a finger at Xylek.

He simply turned and looked at her. Not amused, she ran up and punched him in the face, knocking him backwards onto his back.

"I'm not kidding. Return my powers to me!" she said as she began kicking him while he was on the ground.

He simply lay there, taking the abuse until Celsius was tired. He stood up before the exhausted summon spirit and looked at her with his bruised face.

"Sorry, I cannot do that yet," he said as he picked up his helm and placed it upon his head again, concealing his face. "I will return them, but now is not the right time to do so. I can only ask forgiveness for so forcibly taking yours, Shadow's, and Efreet's powers, though I expect none."

He walked away from the group, choosing to go stand a moderate distance from everyone, where he seemed to brood over thoughts that were troubling him.

"What's wrong with him?" Lloyd asked, not sure what to think about Xylek's seemingly abrupt change of heart.

"He's full of regret," Setsuna said to everyone. "He doesn't know what to do. He feels truly sorry for all that he put you through, but to him, he was doing it for the sake of his friend. You could say he's torn by what he's done, and the fact that he's not sure how to proceed from the current situation."

Everyone looked at Setsuna, and then Xylek. The fact that this man, who had so coldly devastated them not once, but twice, was showing such emotions came as a mild surprise to the group.

"Perhaps we should learn more about him before we become so judgmental of him," suggested Regal. "Maybe if we heard his story, we could help him make a decision as to what he could do next."

"That's a logical choice," Presea said.

"Indeed," said Tenebrae, whose sudden appearance startled the group.

"Tenebrae!" Emil yelled with excitement, glad to see his old companion again.

"Mr. Doggie!" Colette yelled; also glad to see her friend unhurt. Tenebrae sighed at the use of this nickname, which was only one of many.

"Alright, so, who's going to go ask him to tell us?" Raine asked the group.

Everyone stopped the celebration over Tenebrae's return and looked around. None of them wanted to walk up to the brooding swordsman and ask him to bear his soul before the strangers who had almost taken his life, and had almost had their lives taken as well. They all turned and looked at Setsuna, who was still sitting with them, watching their interactions.

"Me? Why do you guys even need to know it from him? I could give you a well enough description for you to help Xylek."

Everyone couldn't help notice how her attitude had shifted, in addition to the fact that she had began blushing. Perhaps there was something about their past that she was embarrassed about?

"Well, now I'm even more curious than I was! I'll go ask!" Raine said, thoroughly amused at Setsuna's reaction. She walked over to Xylek, and tapped him on the shoulder. They exchanged words, and Raine seemed to become more and more excited as they spoke. She hurried back to the group after their short conversation, and sat down, seemingly like a child awaiting a present.

"What's got you so excited?" Sheena asked, perturbed by Raine's childish behavior.

"Xylek said he'll do better than tell us, he can show us with a spell he knows! He said he'll need his sword, though, so I told him where I had been studying it in my tent. Wait…" Raine realized that, in her carelessness, she had divulged the location of his sword, and that he was fully recovered.

Everyone went pale in the face when they turned to see that Xylek was now standing in front of Raine's tent, holding his black blade which was inscribed with many runes down each side. He was fingering the edge and examining the sword, almost like there was something wrong with it. He looked up at everyone, and was startled by the fact that many of them had their weapons drawn. Setsuna simply covered her face with her hand.

Lloyd, being the hothead he was, charged at Xylek, who casually stepped out of the way, and with a small push to his back, sent Lloyd flying into the Professor's tent. Xylek nonchalantly walked over to where everyone else was, blade in hand, and sat down next to Setsuna again. He began looking over the sword again, and Lloyd rushed out of the tent, several supplies stuck in his clothes, thoroughly pissed that Xylek had made him look like such an idiot.

"Lloyd, calm down. Everyone else should too," Kratos said, being one of the few who had kept his cool at the situation. "He does need his sword to cast the spell I think he's going to cast. It's a memory-projection spell, if I remember correctly. It's a dangerous spell to cast, so he just wants to have his sword to focus mana through, as it will make it easier to do."

"I do have a question first, though," Xylek said, amused that Lloyd still had suspicions about him. "Who was casting spells on my sword?"

Everyone turned to look at Raine, who refused to make eye contact.

"I, well, I was trying to examine it, to possibly find out how you managed to contain and focus so much power through the blade," she said, but she had actually been trying to see if there was a way to destroy the enchantments on it.

"I see. Well, to put your mind at ease, you cannot discern those things from my sword. Also, it helps if you aren't using magic designed to break enchantments and curses," he said, and Raine knew that her façade had been ineffective. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to use me as a test subject for your research, even if that research is being done to find a way to beat Xegros in an efficient manner."

Everyone was quiet, as they remembered that, yes, Xegros was still out there.

"Setsuna was able to defeat him by herself. We would be fine if all of us fought him," Genis said, smug that they had been victorious in the last battle.

"I had the element of surprise in that battle, and I opted to go all out from the start. He wasn't ready, and having been shocked by my appearance, I was able to temporarily knock him out. He recovered rather quickly, though, and made his escape, as we now had Xylek in our care. He also knew that I wouldn't let anything severe happen to Xylek, so he wanted to recover as quickly as possible," Setsuna said, wiping the smug look off of the young half-elf's face.

"Hey, don't sell yourself short," Xylek said, poking Setsuna in the arm. "Did you forget who helped you get better with that sword?"

Setsuna blushed, and then smacked Xylek in the back of the head. "Knock it off. I believe you have something to show everyone else. By the way, _keep it relevant_." Nobody could miss the venom in those final three words.

"Hey, I'll do my best, but it's hard to control the memories shown by this spell, so don't give me too much grief if I accidently show something you'd prefer I hadn't."

Everyone wasn't sure what Xylek was talking about, but they were all wondering exactly which spell he was referring to. Regal asked, so Xylek explained it to them.

"This spell is called Mirror of Memories. It will essentially show you certain memories of the caster, through their perspective. You can often feel the emotions expressed by the caster as you experience the memories, so don't be surprised. You will see things through my eyes. I'm taking a large risk by doing this for you people, but I owe you all more than I can give, so I'm willing to take that risk."

Everyone couldn't help but notice he glanced at Setsuna every time he said risk.

"Alright, let's get this started then. It'll probably take a while. Is there a particular point you would like me to start at?" he asked, and Raine spoke up first.

"I'd like to see what growing up before the war was like," she said, "so perhaps you could start with your childhood."

"Ah, that far back, eh?" he said with a sigh, almost like simply thinking about it caused him pain. He shrugged and said, "I wasn't very old when the war started, so you may just get a glimpse of growing up during the war."

He stood in the middle of everyone, who remained seated, as by his instructions. He began chanting something under his breath, and what seemed to be strings of light began drifting outward from his sword, which was planted in the ground. The strings slowly made their way to everyone, and seemed to attach to their foreheads.

"Alright, the link is established. This may feel weird, but here we go. I'll start as far back as I can, but I'll skip the boring parts."

Everyone felt a shock as his memories began flowing to them, and they all entered a state of partial sleep. Their dreams, on the other hand, would not be their own.

* * *

Everyone found themselves looking from a perspective that was theirs, but not. They were looking from the eyes of a young boy. He was playing around in a small village, secluded in the forest. They noticed that there were various other children there as well, and the boy seemed to be friends with them. There were adults too. Some adults were human, others were elves, and some looked like half-elves.

Everyone realized this was a hidden village where half elves and elf-human couples could go to escape persecution, as the racism was even more prevalent in the past than it was in the future. Suddenly, time seemed to skip forward, and they were staring at the same village. Nobody was around, though, and their gaze turned to look at one of the entrances to the secluded town.

Soldiers. Several squads of soldiers bearing unfamiliar crests were standing in the entrance, and a woman was standing in front of them. She appeared to be trying to talk to them, and seemed to be begging, even. The commander of the soldiers seemed to be rather uninterested in what she was saying, and to everyone's surprise, he drew his sword and struck down the woman. This overwhelmed everyone with a sense of deep sorrow, though they didn't know why. The commander began pointing at the houses and giving orders, and the soldiers dispersed into the village. The boy was grabbed by strong hands and carried into a house, where the man who grabbed him opened a small hatch in the floor and placed him in the hole underneath.

"Xylek, no matter what, you must not let them know you're here. Even if you look human, they will kill you," the man said, tears forming in his eyes. "Just… just stay here until it's quiet. Okay? Can you do that for papa?"

Everyone's vision blurred as the boy began tearing up. No words escaped his mouth, but he began furiously nodding as he tried to suppress his crying. Everyone felt the overwhelming sadness as they realized that this was Xylek's father, and everyone could feel what would happen next.

Xylek's father looked at the boy, and said, "I'm going to go find your sister and bring her here, too. You'll need to protect her, because she looks like one of us. I'll be back." He ruffled the hair on the boy's head, and after closing the trapdoor, he turned and ran out of the house.

There had been a large amount of yelling starting outside in the village, but the boy couldn't see what was happening. He heard metal clashing with metal, and people's screams as the soldiers attacked the village. The boy was startled when the door to his house was smashed in and soldiers rushed in, tossing furniture about, looking for anyone who might be hiding. The trapdoor, on the other hand, was completely invisible due to various spells on it.

"This one's empty," one of the soldiers said.

"Alright," another responded. "Move to the next one."

The soldiers left, but the boy remained silent. He waited for a long time, but long into the night, long after the sounds outside had vanished, nobody came. His father never came back with his sister. Everyone realized that the woman at the entrance pleading with the soldiers had been Xylek's mother, as his thoughts went to her. The boy was smart. That also meant he had realized what the dead silence in the village meant. He opened the trap door and looked out into his village through the broken doorway.

* * *

Everyone found themselves looking at a different venue, and they realized Xylek had chosen to not show them the atrocities visited upon his home. They were looking from the edges of a forest at a wide path, which they, somehow, knew was the main road that skirted the forest the boy's village was situated in. The boy ventured out on the road, knowing he would be less likely to encounter wild beasts if he followed it. He walked, and time seemed to surge forward a few days. The boy was now much dirtier, and everyone could feel his exhaustion and hunger.

The sound of horse pulling a cart could be heard, coming from behind, and the boy turned to see what looked like a merchant's cart traveling along behind them. The man driving saw the boy, and slowed the cart. He was an older man, with a graying beard and kind, squinted eyes.

"Hey, boy. You look hungry. Come here, and I can give you something. Don't worry, I don't bite," he said, and he held out a small loaf of bread he had grabbed from his stock. The boy slowly approached the cart, wary of this stranger, but once he saw the food he eagerly took the loaf and devoured it. "Hungry, I see. Do you have any parents?" the man looked around. The boy shook his head 'no' and the man's lips flattened as he began thinking. "Ah, I know, I could use some help with all this stuff. You can come with me, if you want. I'm going to the capital," the merchant said. The boy stood there for a moment, thinking about the offer, and then he nodded yes.

"Alright, then. Hop on up here and sit next to me," the man said, and the boy slowly climbed up and sat down. "My name's Albert, but you can call me Al. What's your name?"

The boy sat there, and quietly said, "Xylek."

* * *

Everyone was now in the middle of a busy marketplace, situated behind a produce stand. He had been working like this for a few weeks under Al. He helped sell the various goods Al had brought with him to the capital, and Al was even kind enough to feed him and pay him for his diligent work. Al was a kind, old man who had almost adopted the boy as his own son, and had been trying to teach him the intricacies of being a profitable merchant, so he could make a living.

A group of soldiers were walking through the market, harassing various merchants and customers alike. This aggravated the boy, as nobody told them to stop. Of course, as just a young boy, he wouldn't be able to stop them. They came to his stall, and the soldiers grabbed several things from the fruits and began to walk off. Albert, unlike the other merchants, was not going to accept that passively.

"That'll be 12 gald, gentlemen," he said to the soldiers that had began to leave. They all stopped and looked at him like he was insane. "This isn't a free stall."

One of the soldiers walked up to him and gave him a rather hard push, but Al stood his ground. "Do you know who we are?"

"Yes, you are soldiers of the kingdom, charged with protecting the rights of the people of the kingdom. That doesn't give you the right to wrongfully take others' property," Al said obstinately.

"Rights? You're a merchant! You don't have the 'right' to say anything to us. Piss off!" the soldier said as he turned away from Al. He was stopped as Al grabbed him on the shoulder and said, "12 gald, please."

The soldier grabbed his sword from his sheathe and turned and stabbed Albert through the chest. Everyone was overcome by a sense of shock, and then anger and rage as they looked at Al's now lifeless body. The boy pulled a dagger he had bought with his wages from under his shirt, and in a fit of rage, ran after the soldier that had just killed the kind old merchant. The boy ran and jumped on the soldier's back.

"What the-" was all the soldier said before the boy pulled the grown man's head back and slit his throat. The other soldiers turned and saw their comrade fall to the ground, blood pouring from his new breathing hole, and they were shocked to see a very angry looking kid standing over the body, dagger in hand.

"Why you little brat!" one of them yelled, and drawing his sword, he lunged. The boy was fast on his feet though, and he managed to step aside as he ran towards his attacker. The soldier, not ready to be attacked by the boy, had failed to have any form of defense as the boy's dagger planted itself in the man's eye.

The other soldiers were all very angry now, and people had began gathering to see why there were so many armed soldiers with weapons drawn surrounding a small boy with blue hair.

"What's going on here?" a loud voice yelled, and the soldiers promptly stiffened and stood at attention as their commanding officer pranced his horse up to investigate. "Would someone explain why soldiers of this kingdom would be drawing swords against a _child?"_

"Sir! That child has killed two of our men, sir!" one soldier yelled.

"Oh? So a little urchin managed to kill two of my men? Who in hell would believe that!" the commander spat, glaring at the soldiers.

"It's true," the boy said, and the commander looked at him, "It was simply a business exchange, though."

"How so?" the commander asked, looking at the boy with an inquisitive look.

"Well, the man there with a slit throat killed the man I worked for, so, I charged an appropriate price. His life." The words were cold, and the officer furrowed his eyebrows at the tone in the boy's voice.

"And the other gentleman there?" he asked.

"Oh, he tripped and fell on my knife. That was an accident, but those tend to happen."

The commander looked at the boy, feeling the coldness and seriousness in his tone.

"Those aren't the eyes of a child, boy. What happened, eh?" he inquired.

"This country is at war, sir. I was unfortunate enough to be burdened with burying my family and friends. Sir, have _you_ ever buried your own sister?" the boy's question was dripping with malice.

"I see. That's unfortunate, and no, I haven't got a sister. Tell you what, boy. Normally, I would have you strung up, beaten, and beheaded for this, but as you said, we are at war, and in need of good soldiers. For you to be able to take out two of my men shows that you have potential."

"But, sir, he killed-" one of the soldiers started, but the commander punched him in the mouth.

"Would you be interested in joining my squad? It seems we have a couple vacancies now. It pays well, you'll get somewhere to stay, and maybe you'll even get the chance to get back at the people who killed your family."

The boy pondered this, and then nodded his head. "Fine, but I want paid more than them," he said as he pointed at the other soldiers, who were all turning red with anger at their commander's decision.

"Ha! I like you, kid. Here, you can ride with me on my horse. What's your name?"

"Xylek."

"That's 'Xylek, sir' from now on."

* * *

Everyone was now surrounded by the sounds of clashing weapons and grunts of pain. Standing in front of the boy, who was now in his mid-teens, was a soldier holding a wooden sword. He lunged, but the boy moved quickly to the side and struck him on the wrists, leg, and then the back of the head.

"Private, if you fail to defend yourself, even when attacking, you will end up dead. I will not accept failure in my squad. Straighten up or I'll have you transferred to prison duty," the boy said.

"Yes, sir," the soldier responded, before walking off, rubbing the welts that Xylek's own practice sword had left.

"You should take it easier on the recruits, captain," a man said, walking up to the teenager.

"General, sir!" Xylek stood at attention as the man approached.

The man sighed and said, "I've told you to knock that off. You're my pride as general of this great army, so you don't have to be so formal."

"I lead my men by example, sir!" Xylek said.

"Yes, which is why you have the highest mission success rate of any captain in the army. And to think that I found you as a little street urchin in the middle of the market. Well, finding you and having you serve under me let me get to this rank, so perhaps I should thank you," the general said.

"General Toole, I am honored you feel that way, sir," Xylek said.

"Bah, you're embarrassing me. I'm going to go talk to the other captains. You should come have a drink with us sometime."

"I don't drink, sir. I am only a boy in my teens."

"Ah, that's right. Oh well, your loss. Carry on then."

"Sir!" the captain said as General Toole walked off.

Once the general was out of sight, Xylek ran off to the side and vomited. He couldn't believe that he was showing so much respect to the very man who had massacred his village. It had taken a few years, but he had overheard the general talking about his favorite missions. The man even bragged about killing Xylek's mother. 'One day,' Xylek thought, 'one day I'll kill you, and the rest of the soldiers who had taken my childhood from me.'

Of course, he had been killing the soldiers one by one over the past five years he had been "serving" in the army. Wanted posters were located everywhere, talking about a "mysterious half-elf assassin" that had been killing "random" soldiers in their sleep. The reason they knew the assassin was a half-elf was because he used magic when assaulting the soldiers, elves wouldn't do such things, and humans couldn't use magic.

Xylek had taken advantage of his position as a captain for the past two years by studying the various magic tomes located in the Royal Library. He had several volumes in his own quarters, and his excuse was that he needed to know the mind of the enemy. Nobody would suspect the diligent boy who had advanced his commanding officer to the rank of General over the course of his service, in addition to being promoted to captain in three years himself, was secretly a half elf. His appearance was that of a human, having not inherited any of the telltale traits of a half-elf since both his parents were half-elves. He had been lucky, in that respect. He did inherit the elves' strong magic, though, and he used it to his advantage in many of the encounters he had been in over the years.

Fighting against Sylvarant was a difficult endeavor by the kingdom of Tethe'alla, but both sides were seemingly equal matches. The two countries had begun rapidly researching magitechnology, which ran on mana. Humans couldn't tell that such technology was putting a strain on the land, though, so they went about in their destructive ways. Xylek only worked for Tethe'alla because the racism in Sylvarant was just as bad as it was here, so either way, Xylek was killing people who had most likely killed innocents.

* * *

Time moved forward a bit more. The only person left alive that had participated in the massacre was General Toole himself. The mysterious half-elf was now only known as the 'phantom' and the thought of him would make the general go pale. The general had realized who the phantom was targeting, and being the only one left had left him on edge.

"You can't stop the phantom," he would say. "It's the embodiment of the vengeful souls of the half-elves I've killed, or ordered killed. I know it's coming for me, but I'm too great a man for a ghost to kill."

He was conceited, and it disgusted Xylek, who was now twenty. He had spent the last nine years in service for the army of Tethe'alla, and was now in charge of his own special, elite brigade known as the Armor Knights. The Armor Knights were known for being unbeatable in the field of battle, and the sight of them would often make foes retreat before they suffered heavy losses. Xylek had personally trained these men to be unbeatable, utilizing not just their own strength, but the strength of others around them when fighting. Always operating in three-man teams, the Armor Knights were one of Tethe'alla's greatest assets in battle.

Xylek walked into the general's office, having been summoned earlier.

"Sir, you summoned me?" he said to the general.

"Yes, I have a special treat for you," General Toole said, smiling.

"Sir?"

"You and the rest of your men have been working hard, so I think you all deserve a 'special' mission."

The word "special" sent a cold wave down the young man's spine.

"Yes, we've located a small half-elf haven in one of the forests, so as a special treat, I'm going to let you and your men be the ones to wipe it out. It's an easy mission, especially for the likes of you. Your men already know, so they're celebrating their little break."

Xylek said nothing, his breathing becoming heavy.

"Sir, I… I don't think we need to do such a thing," he said to his superior.

"No, you deserve this. I remember my last half-elf hunt. It was one of my favorite missions. Ah, I remember it like it was yesterday… of course, it was, oh, not too long before you joined, even. Maybe you were my reward for doing the world good by eliminating those pests."

"I wouldn't say that," Xylek said, slowly turning and closing the door.

"Hey, leave that open," Toole said, looking at Xylek with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm afraid if I did that, some of the men might hear what's going to happen next…" Xylek's tone had become very dark.

"Happen next?"

"Yes, General. It's ironic that you found me when you did. Even more ironic that it was specifically _you_ that had 'found' me." The general was getting nervous.

"So, you remember that half-elf village you take so much pride in wiping out. Did you know there were humans in that village too? Women? Children? Innocent people?"

"What's your point, captain?" the general asked, taking a serious tone.

"Well, sir, I was only eleven at the time, but I remember everything that happened on that day."

"Remember? You weren't there-" the general's words fell flat as he began to realize what Xylek meant.

"Do you remember the woman that had pleaded with you to spare the village? That kind-hearted half-elf you killed so gleefully? That woman was my mother."

Shock went across the face of the general. Perhaps if he could reach to his sword against the wall he could kill the man standing before him.

"Do you remember a little girl? Only six at the time, but that didn't matter. I found her lying next to my father, both with stab wounds. I knew my father died trying to protect her, since his arms were covered in wounds from where he had used them to try and stop the merciless blades of your men. That was my sister. I buried my family because of you, _General_."

"You… you're the phantom half-elf!"

"Yes, I am. I've killed everyone who participated in that massacre. Everyone but you, sir." Xylek's tone was unmistakable. The general knew that he now planned to take his life this very moment. Toole lunged for his sword, but found his hand encased in a block of ice.

"Magic!"

"Yes, general, magic. Would you like to know what would happen if all the blood in your heart was frozen instantly? The heart's own beating would shred itself on the hard ice. Here, general, let me show you…"

The general tried to yell out, but Xylek punched him in the jaw, breaking it and freezing it shut at the same time. He placed his hands on the general's chest, muttered a few words, and the general's face went white with pain.

"Goodbye, general. Perhaps you can lead your precious unit in hell. I don't think there's much room for promotion, there, though," Xylek said as the life drained from Toole's body.

Xylek opened the door of the office and ran out, yelling that someone had assassinated the general. Nobody suspected it was the most respected officer in the army that had done it. Xylek put on a good façade, faking sadness over the loss of the general. In fact, the loss had been a lifted burden off of his chest, for his revenge had been complete. He savored the look of terror on the general's face as he realized his favorite soldier was one of the half-elves he hated so much.

* * *

Several weeks later, Xylek was now a candidate for general of the entire army of Tethe'alla and he had to laugh at the irony of it. He walked through the Armor Knight's training yard, observing his men's sparring.

"Captain! I've found a great way to honor the memory of our dear lost General Toole!"

'Great,' thought Xylek. "What is that, soldier?" Xylek asked, referencing the papers held in the soldier's hands.

"Sir, it's the last mission he had prepared for us!" Xylek's own blood froze in his veins.

"It looks like a half-elf village. This will let us get revenge on those dirty beasts for killing our general!"

Other men had become interested in the situation, and had come over to investigate. After hearing the words of the nosy soldier, they had began yelling and cheering, calling it a "half-elf hunt."

Xylek looked at his men, who were all now gathered around him.

"So, you all want to go on this 'hunt,' you say?" he asked.

The soldiers all yelled their approval. At this, Xylek's heart sank. He had trained these men to be merciful on the battlefield; to be honorable, good men. To hear them all cheering for the slaughter of innocent people like that was like a stab in the chest. Especially when he resolved to do what he must to prevent something like what had happened to his village from ever happening again.

"Fine. Tonight, we'll march out. Meet here in the training yard at sundown, and have your gear ready."

There were cheers from his men as they all ran about preparing for the night.

* * *

The Armor Knights were all gathered in the training yard, lightly illuminated by the torches on the walls.

"I've heard that half-elf women are quite good looking," one soldier said.

Another responded, "yeah, I might bring a few back with me."

"No, we have to kill them all," one said.

"Well, I was going to eventually," and everyone laughed. Everyone but their commander, who then walked out from under the gate.

"Hey, it's the captain!"

The soldiers cheered. Their cheering stopped, though, when the gate slammed to the ground behind him.

"Oy, open the gate!" one man yelled to the soldiers positioned on the wall.

"They can't hear you," Xylek whispered, and the rabble of soldiers became quiet.

"Sir?"

Xylek stood before his men. Men he had trained. They had all respected him, even though he was younger than them. He was famed for his jet-black armor and peerless blade skills, but now he stood before them, shaken to his core.

"Sir, are you alright?" one soldier asked, and with that Xylek began laughing. It was quiet at first, but it slowly picked up into hysterics.

"He seems excited about the hunt!" one man yelled, and the others cheered.

"No…" Xylek said, loud enough that the cheering stopped again. "I'm laughing at how cruel fate has decided to be."

"What do you mean, sir?"

"Well, I thought I had taught you all the meanings of honor, mercy, and what it means to be a real soldier. It seems that I failed, seeing you here now, consumed by bloodlust."

"But, sir, the half-elves are responsible for the death of General Toole!"

"No! Toole brought that fate upon himself. His sins caught up with him."

"Captain?"

"Would you all like to know a secret?" Xylek asked as he drew his cloak back, no longer hiding his face. His expression was cold, serious, and deadly. "Nine years ago, I joined this army as a young boy. Do you know why I joined the army at such a young age?"

None of the men spoke, for the air was too tense.

"I joined because I had nothing. My family had been murdered in cold blood. Everyone that I knew had been viciously slain."

"Was it the half-elves?" one soldier asked.

"No. It was General Toole and his men."

"What?" the word was uttered from the mouths of the Armor Knights.

"My village, a secluded village in the forests, was attacked and slaughtered by Toole and his men. It destroyed me. And now, you, my men, want to visit this atrocity on another village?"

The men were confused. "Sir, this is a _half-elf_ village we are going to wipe out. You can't compare that to the accidental elimination of your village."

"Oh, I think I can. In this situation, though, I would be representing Toole, and you would be his men."

"What are you saying? Your village was…" the soldiers stiffened as they looked at their captain, who stared back with his cold, green eyes.

"That's absurd. You look nothing like a half-elf. You can't be-" Xylek cut the man's words off as he held his hand out, and after muttering an incantation, a large spear of ice formed in his hand.

Everyone stepped back with a gasp, and some placed their hands on their weapons.

"Humans cannot use magic. As you can tell, I am no elf, either. What would that leave?"

"But, sir! Half-elves are inferior. There's no way you could be one!"

"Inferior? We have hearts. We bleed. We cry. We love. What makes us different than you? We can use magic and we live longer. Both of those points seem to make _you_ inferior."

"If you are a half elf, we'll simply have to complete our duty and eliminate you. I apologize, sir, for raising my weapon against you, but I have a duty to this kingdom," Xylek's vice-captain said. "And you have nowhere to run. The gate is shut."

Xylek laughed. "I closed the gate. It's not to keep me from running away, it's to keep _you_ inside."

Xylek drew his sword, and his vice captain and several others rushed him. He had trained these men to fight well together, and their efforts showed, forcing Xylek to fight with more skill than he normally would exert on a soldier. Unfortunately, he knew his men like the palm of his hand, and they were far from overcoming their teacher. He quickly slew the first few, and the rest charged. Xylek killed his men, one by one, until the training yard was quiet again. Blood dripped from his sword, and his own blood dripped from the several wounds he had received. Xylek's tears fell, too, for he had just slain the men he had almost thought of as family. He quickly gathered his things from his quarters and escaped the capital.

He now had no place to live. He would travel to the forests, and perhaps, he could simply find a place to live in solitude. First, though, he would travel to the half-elf village and explain to them that they had been found out.

* * *

Time skipped forward, and he now stood outside the village. There were guards at the gate, though, and when they saw him, they drew weapons and surrounded him.

"What do you want, filthy human!" one guard yelled, pointing his spear at Xylek.

"I'm not a human," he said back, but the guard scoffed.

"Don't try to trick us. We see that armor underneath that cloak. No member of the Tethe'allan army will be allowed to enter here-" Xylek drew his sword, and in one quick motion, he removed the spearheads from all of the spears that were pointed at him.

"-alive," the guard finished, the swordsman's quick motion barely registering on his face.

"As you can see, if I wanted to enter this village, I could do so with or without your permission. I simply wish to speak to the village head. If it would make you feel better, you can bind my hands. Just tell him that Xylek would like to speak with him."

"Xylek? _The_ Xylek?"

"Yes, now hurry up!"

One guard ran into the village, and the others moved around, binding Xylek's hands and removing his sword. They pushed him into the village, where people had begun to gather after hearing the commotion at the gate. Xylek looked around, and was startled at the similarity between this village and his own. An older man walked up to him, and taking his walking stick, he struck Xylek across the head. It dazed the swordsman, but he remained standing.

"So, a great captain of Tethe'alla has come for an execution? What did you plan to do to this village all by yourself? Did you just want to kill me?" the village head spoke, staring at the man in black armor before him.

"No, the reason I'm here is to save this village. The capital knows of your location, and they plan to exterminate it."

"A threat? Well, the capital will see how strong we are after we send your head back to them." The elder pulled a knife from his belt, but in one motion, Xylek's hands were unbound and had taken the dagger. He held it in his hand, remembering Albert nine years ago, and then he _broke the blade_ with his bare hands.

"Hey, I thought I said to bind him tightly!" one guard yelled, but Xylek held up a hand.

"There was nothing wrong with your knot, but it wasn't meant to resist magic."

"What are you saying?" the village elder said, stepping back.

"Like I told your guards, I am a half-elf. Here is proof," Xylek said as he waved his hands in the air. Light emitted from his hands, writing the symbol for "half-elf" in the air. "My parents were both half-elves, and I was 'blessed' with looks that can pass for humans. I know why you distrust me, but I'm serious when I say the capital knows where you live, and they plan to wipe you out."

There were several gasps from the villagers, and the village head seemed deep in though.

"So, we are in danger then. Alright, I'll accept that you are indeed one of us, but what do you suppose we do? Our livelihoods are here in this village."

"Yes, but which do you value more? Your things? Or your lives? I can't make you choose, but I would sincerely hope that you leave this place. I've experienced the pain of losing family, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone else."

"I see, thank you for the warning. We will think of something to do."

Xylek grabbed his things from one of the guards and left. Hopefully, they would make the right choice.

* * *

Xylek sat alone in front of the fire he had made. Or what seemed alone, but he knew better. He had someone following him. They had been tracking him for several days now, and they were now just outside his camp. He heard a limb snap, and someone cursed. Xylek smiled. Whoever it was lacked skill. A blade came flying from the trees to his left, but he simply moved to the side. There was a crack as the branch the assailant had been perched on broke. Someone crashed to the ground, and there was a yelp as the person landed.

"Shit!" was all that Xylek heard as the person ran off into the darkness of the night. 'This might be fun,' thought Xylek.

The next day, Xylek was traveling along one of the paths in the forest when he noticed several trip lines on the path ahead of him. He smiled at how poorly they were hidden, and grabbed a stick and threw it ahead of himself. It set off the lines, and many blades went flying across the path. The last line, though, detonated a hidden explosive, which threw up a cloud of dirt. This surprised Xylek, and then the assailant rushed him. They were very quick, utilizing a dagger in addition to the martial arts they knew, and attempted to stab Xylek. He wouldn't be killed so easily, and without unsheathing his blade, he disarmed the attacker.

"Tch," they said as they vanished into the trees.

'Fun, indeed,' thought Xylek. He had noticed more about his attacker. The most dominant thing on his mind, though, was that it was a woman attacking him.

The next night, she attacked his camp again. She attempted to rush him while he was eating, but he parried her dagger with his knife he had been using to eat. This infuriated her, but she didn't see him grab the fork with his other hand and swing it at her face. It caught on the cloth covering her face below the eyes, and tore it away. Her face was now exposed, and he saw. He saw the flowing black hair and her cold, blue eyes, and time seemed to freeze at that instant. He didn't know why, but something tugged at his chest. It was the first time he'd felt this feeling, so it confused him.

She jumped back, covering her exposed face, and she vanished into the shadows.

The next day, Xylek examined the cloth he had taken from her, and realized that it was rather interesting. Something designed to mask the sound of breathing. It even had magic cast on it to enhance this. So, whoever was attacking him could use magic? This puzzled him, but then he remembered her face. Perhaps she was like him, a half-elf that can pass as human. No human could tell there was magic on the cloth, but he could. Maybe he could confront her and ask her about it.

Xylek stumbled across an abandoned camp. It had been abandoned fairly recently, too, for leftovers from the meal that had just been cooked were left lying near the fire. He examined the food, and realized that it was cooked poorly, and most of the nutrients in the ingredients had been wasted. If someone kept eating meals like this, they wouldn't be very healthy. He had a guess as to who this camp had belonged to, as well. He sighed as he felt the tug on his chest again. Perhaps that night, he would be the one doing the sneaking.

Xylek quietly moved through the trees, following the sound of a fire not a long ways off. His armor was laced with magic that prevented it from making noise while he moved, so he arrived unnoticed at the camp. He saw her, sitting on a stump in front of a fire, eating what looked like rabbit. He could tell she didn't like the taste, but she needed to eat. She was completely unaware he was watching her, and as she lay down to sleep, he saw she had nothing but the clothes on her back. She dozed off without placing any wood on the fire, and it began to gutter and die as it burned through the rest of the wood. If she didn't have that fire, the cold night air could make her very sick. Xylek wasn't sure why, but he couldn't let this happen.

He hurried back to his camp and grabbed one of his heavier blankets. He would be fine with the others. He ventured back to her camp, and quietly entered. She was sound asleep, and completely oblivious. He looked at her face, and the feeling in his chest was even more prevalent now. She was shivering from the cold, so he carefully draped the blanket over her. He cast a small spell that would allow the blanket to amplify her body heat, since the fire had died. This would keep her warm for the night. Perhaps, for her safety, he should follow her instead of her following him. He had another idea and ran back to his camp. He gathered what he had prepared for his own dinner, placed it on one of the plates he had, and brought it back to her camp. She could heat it up in the morning. He quietly left the camp and observed into the morning.

She jumped awake, and to his amusement, failed to notice the blanket that had kept her warm. She looked around, yawned and stood up. She then froze as she looked at the blanket, and then the food that was now sitting next to her guttered fire. She had a thoroughly confused look on her face, as she never remembered cooking the food or even having such a blanket. She recognized the blanket, though, as she had been stalking Xylek for a while now, and then her eyes widened. She looked around, fearing that he was somewhere near, but he was quite good at hiding himself, so he went unnoticed.

"What the hell…" she said as she lifted the plate of food and looked at it. Xylek had to suppress a laugh when he audibly heard her stomach growl from hunger. She sighed, and began to gather things to start a fire. She checked her traps, and when finding nothing (Xylek had set the rabbits loose before she woke up), she sat down again and stared at the food.

"It's got to be a trick. He probably poisoned it. Little did he know, I can cleanse poison!"

She waved her hands over the food and, after an incantation, a small flash of light came from her hands. The food showed no reaction.

"I'm sure I did that right. Let's try again." She did it several more times, but still no reaction.

She sighed, and put the food over the fire to heat. "I trust my abilities. Maybe he forgot to poison it? It seems unusual to go through so much effort to make food and then not poison it, though…"

The food soon finished heating, and she began eating. She hungrily ate it down, and Xylek realized that she probably hadn't had a proper meal since she had been following him.

"It was alright, I suppose. But what is he playing at?" she asked herself, still unaware that he was watching. "That bastard ripped my mask off, though, so I can't forgive him! Especially since he did it with… a… fork…" The last word seemed to hang over her head.

She put her face in her hands. "Why do I always screw up so much? Maybe they sent me on this mission to try to get rid of me? I'd heard that the guy was dangerous, but now he seems to be toying with me. Is he going to kill me in my sleep after messing with my head? I'm confused…"

She got up and left the camp, also leaving the blanket and plate. She went to where Xylek had camped last, but was unable to find any sign of where he had gone next.

"Great, I even lost him. Now what?" She seemed distraught at her current situation, but she moved on. He followed her throughout the day, unbeknownst to her, and when nightfall came, she made camp again. Xylek laughed a little to himself, since he was going to play a rather mean prank on her after she went to sleep. She eventually curled up near the fire and dozed off, this time after putting wood on the fire. He snuck into the camp again, and this time, in addition to the blanket and food, he left her cloth mask lying next to her.

She awoke the next morning, and immediately noticed the blanket.

"Damn him!" she said, and then she noticed the food again.

"Damn him again!"

She looked around and saw her mask lying on the ground, and scowled. She picked it up, and noticed it was wrapped around something. It was a fork. The look that went across her face actually made him laugh. He tried to muffle the sound, but she had heard.

"You bastard, you think this is funny? You're going to slip up, and I'll get you then! You hear?"

He was having difficulty breathing from the laughter he was fighting back. She threw the fork at a tree, and it buried itself in the bark. Xylek slowly worked his way around the camp to that tree, and carefully grabbed the fork. She came back from rinsing her hair in a nearby stream, and noticed the fork sticking out of the food, which he had already heated.

"Why that… AAARH!" she yelled as she kicked the food. Being the sneaky person he was, though, he had anticipated such a response, and a magic ward on the plate protected the food. The ward then wrote letters in the air that spelled out "Don't be wasteful."

At this point, her face was purple with anger. She sighed, though, and sat down. She checked this food for poison, and then, after starting to eat, she realized she was using the fork. She bent it in half, and then threw it into the bushes. She finished the food, and contemplated burning the blanket and breaking the plate, but then something came across her mind. How was there a ward on the plate? She had been hired to kill a Tethe'allan officer that was notorious for his victories. There's no way a half elf would be in the army.

Xylek hadn't taken any time to sleep over the past two nights, as he was too busy observing his would-be assassin, so he was very tired. He ended up accidently falling asleep. Unfortunately, he was a very loud sleeper, and later that night, his assassin found him dozing against a tree outside her camp.

"Hehe, got you, bastard," she said as she pulled her dagger from her clothes. For some reason, though, she didn't feel any urge to stab this man, who had been toying with her. She pulled the hood back on his head, and looked at his face. It was peaceful, with a small smile, and her resolve melted.

"Damn it all!" she yelled, which startled him awake.

"Crap!" Xylek said, realizing how careless he had been. He started to jump up, but he noticed that her dagger lay in the dirt at her feet, and she was leaning against a tree, covering her face.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked.

"What's it matter to you?" she said, not looking at him.

"Well, I just wanted to-" he tried to say, but she cut him off.

"Shut up! What're you trying to pull, eh? Acting all nice like that." She was flustered.

"Acting? I just gave you a blanket and some food."

"Exactly! I've been trying to kill you! And then you do that? Is there something wrong in your head?"

"I've been told that," he responded, and she gave a sarcastic laugh.

"Anyways, your 'attempts' weren't very successful, but they did give me something to do, so I suppose I should thank you."

"So I was just entertainment?"

"Well, you _were_ trying to kill me. I just happen to be very good at not dying. It's a curse, really."

"Ha ha."

"Well, to be honest, I don't know why I was helping you. It's just this… feeling I've got in my chest compels me to. For some reason, I just wanted to be sure you were safe."

"So what, you saying you've _fallen_ for me? How does that make sense?" she said as she turned to look at Xylek.

"I have no idea. I've never felt like this before, though, so I don't know if I've fallen for you or not. Pitiful, I know." He rubbed the back of his head, not knowing what to say, and she just looked at him. He had an idea.

"So, um, you probably know this, but my name is Xylek. What's yours?"

"You _are _Xylek? Don't joke." She stared at him, drilling him with her icy blue eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I know you can use magic. Xylek is no half-elf. He's a captain-"

"Was a captain. I was a captain. Not anymore, though. I deserted my post."

"Why would Xylek, a captain who struck fear into the hearts of his enemies, leave?"

"I would leave when following orders would mean slaughtering an entire village of half-elves. I left after I killed the General of the entire Tethe'allan army, in addition to my own men, the elite 'Armor Knights.' I could no longer play as a human. I took my revenge on the people that slew my family nine years ago, and left. I expect they are also trying to take my head. For my sake, I hope their assassins are about as competent as you."

"Shut up!"

"No. I know you're a half-elf, too. Why would you be working as an assassin?"

"I need to support my sister, so I take jobs like this. I work for Sylvarant's assassination squad."

"But, this is your first mission, isn't it?"

"N-no! I've killed plenty of people!" She crossed her arms, and didn't look particularly dangerous.

"I doubt that. You don't seem like a killer. I've met people who kill. I'm one of them." Xylek's eyes darkened as he remembered what he did to his own men. He also remembered what they would have done if he hadn't.

"Yes, I know you're a killer, especially if you really _are_ Xylek. You don't seem to like it very much, though. I've heard of soldiers who have lost to your little group of elites. They say that you wash over the battlefield like a storm, destroying all who resist. But, unlike other commanders, you allow wounded soldiers to escape, and even treat some of them yourself."

"Well, if there are survivors, perhaps my reputation will force my enemy to surrender, since they know I will not harm those who surrender. Funny way of winning a battle, eh?"

"No… that's how a kind-hearted person would try to win. To win a war without bloodshed…" She no longer looked at Xylek with contempt.

"Yeah, so, shall we try this again? My name's Xylek. What's yours?" he held out his hand with this question, and she looked at it, and then at him. She saw the genuine smile on his face as he stood there, looking directly into her eyes, and she flushed.

She held out her hand, and grasped his. His hand was huge compared to hers, and for some reason that comforted her.

"I'm Setsuna."

"Oh, Setsuna? That's a beautiful name. I suppose it's obvious you would have a beautiful name, though."

Her face became even more flushed.

"So, Setsuna, I have a question."

"What would that be?"

"How long are you going to hold my hand?"

She hadn't noticed it, but she was indeed still grasping his hand. She quickly yanked it back and turned away.

"Setsuna."

"Wh-what?" she managed to spit out.

"Are you hungry?"

* * *

Everyone jumped awake, and looked around. They were back at their own camp, looking through their own eyes. They looked at Xylek, the man who had just bared his soul to a group of people he didn't know, and saw Setsuna standing next to him, her hand next to his on his sword. They realized that not only had he shown his memories, but she had shared some of hers, which explained why they were able to tell what she was thinking during the flashback.

"That… that was…" Sheena said, but no words could form.

Colette was crying, and Lloyd looked off into the sky, trying to fully comprehend what he had just seen.

"That was so romantic!" Marta said, looking at the two armored warriors.

"Marta, stop. A lot of those memories would have been painful to remember," Emil said.

"Yes, that was… terrible," Regal said, brooding over what Xylek had gone through during his childhood.

Raine said nothing, but she stared into the fire in the middle of the camp.

Everyone had felt the emotions that Xylek had during these memories. They felt the pain, loss, and sadness of the man they had fought. They all realized why he had seemingly become a different person when Setsuna had revealed herself. She had brought him out from a pit of despair.

"So that's what love at first sight feels like…" Presea said, remembering the emotions that Xylek had felt the first time he set eyes on Setsuna. "Such a… pure emotion."

"Yeah," said Lloyd.

"Hey Lloyd. It's kind of funny to think about it, but isn't that kind of how we met Sheena?" Genis said, and everyone noticed it too.

"W-was not!" Sheena said, and everyone laughed.

"Oh? Do tell," Xylek said, sitting down with Setsuna.

"Sheena was originally trying to kill Colette, but she kept screwing up!" Genis said.

"Really? I think you might be right, then, Setsuna," Xylek said.

"Right about what?" Zelos asked.

"Oh, that village, Mizuho. If it's what I think it is, I think my sister founded that village," Setsuna said, and everyone looked at her, wide-eyed.

"Yes, and that would make you a descendent of her sister, therefore making you relatives," Xylek said. "You look a lot like her, and you're even a summoner. I'd put money on it."

"I… look like her?"

"Yes, both Setsuna and her sister had beautiful black hair, but her sister had-" Setsuna punched Xylek in the gut.

"Yes, I think you may be one of her descendants. Ironic that you would be one of the ones to encounter me, don't you think?" Setsuna said.

Efreet laughed, since he knew what Xylek was going to say next. Zelos inched closer to him and asked, but he shook his head and pointed at both Setsuna and Celsius.

"I'd rather keep my teeth, thanks."

Zelos sighed, shrugged, and walked off to sleep. Everyone was tired, so they behaved likewise.

Xylek stared at the night sky, and Setsuna walked up next to him.

"So, do you think they can do it?" Xylek asked.

"It really just depends on their resolve."

"Well, I think they can handle it. Looks like we're going to have to beat some sense into Xegros in the end."

"Yeah…"

* * *

Xegros sat by himself, hidden in a dark cave. He seemed to be speaking to himself. The look in his eyes was a look of anger and despair. He nodded, and what seemed to be a large shadowy figure appeared in front of him.

"Like I told you, Xegros, they will always betray you."

"But, even Xylek?"

"Yes, that woman corrupted him long before you met him, though. There's nothing you can do to save your friend."

"I know, but I just wish it wasn't true."

"Don't worry, you don't need them. You have us. We were with you for these past 4000 years."

"Yes, you were…"

"So, shall we begin?"

"Yes."

The shadowy figure seemed to multiply, and Xegros' armor seemed to glow. The shadows leapt into him, and he collapsed on the ground. He slowly stood, and now, his eyes were definitely no longer the eyes of a human. They glowed like hot embers from under his helm, and he let out a low growl. Xylek had no idea what his friend had allowed himself to become.

**Xylek: 10,000+ words. I think my fingers are bleeding.**

**Tiger: I can't even think of a good sarcastic remark this time…**


	15. Chapter 15: A Prior Engagement

**Chapter 15: A Prior Engagement**

The next morning, nobody wanted to talk much. They all had various intensities of headaches; a side effect of the memory-transfer spell. Xylek and Setsuna were not present for breakfast, which everyone had found prepared upon waking. Normally, this would bother them, but after seeing some of what Xylek had been through, they couldn't blame him if he wanted to be alone after dredging up those painful memories.

"So, how's everyone feeling this morning?" Colette asked, trying to cheer up the mood.

She received very little response. She looked down, sad that her cheery disposition hadn't done anything, and Lloyd got up and put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, Colette. We've just got a lot on our minds. It's not you," he said, trying to comfort his childhood friend.

"Enough of this gloom!" Celsius yelled at everyone. "We don't have time to just sit around and brood over someone else's past! We need to find Xegros."

"She's right," Yuan said, as he was unfazed by seeing such memories. He himself had fought in the war as well, and he had crossed paths with Xylek many times over the course of the war.

Setsuna ran out of the trees into the camp. "Sheena! Where's Sheena?" she yelled.

"What's wrong?" Sheena responded, running out of her tent.

"Well, it seems we've got a slight problem. Xylek and I were heading over to Mizuho to check it out, and, well, we encountered a patrol. They wouldn't listen to our explanations and attacked. Xylek is messing with them, but you should call them off before he hurts someone."

Mizuho was famous for its skilled ninja, and the sheer concept of calling off a patrol for their sake, not the "intruder's," was something that bothered Sheena. Perhaps it was her pride in her home.

"Alright, I'll hurry over to clear things up," Sheena said with a nod.

"Ahem," Lloyd said, looking at Sheena. She looked at him, confused, and then he pointed to his hair. She looked, and then remembered her own hair was still a mess. Embarrassed, she ducked back into her tent and quickly fixed it. She bolted out, and ran into the trees after Setsuna.

"We should all probably head over to Mizuho anyways. I think Setsuna at least wanted to look around, since it seems she was sisters with the village founder," Regal said, and everyone nodded in agreement. They all owed a lot to Setsuna, since she had managed to not only stop Xylek, but it seemed that he had become an unexpected ally. Celsius was still angry at everyone's attitudes, but Efreet was trying to calm her down. Ironic for the spirit of ice to be calmed down by the spirit of fire, isn't it?

Setsuna and Sheena arrived outside the village quickly, and they saw that the entire village had begun to take up arms against Xylek.

"It's a good thing I'm here, it's been a while since the village showed this much aggression," Sheena said, proud to see her people unite against a common enemy, even if the Xylek didn't quite fit the definition of an enemy.

"Yes, with this many people, it would be difficult for Xylek to defend himself and not hurt anyone," Setsuna remarked, deflating Sheena's ego, as she was quite right; Xylek could probably remove the village from the map if he were angry enough.

"Everyone, stand down!" Sheena yelled, leaping into the clearing that Xylek had chosen to reduce the chance of an ambush attempt by the shinobi of Mizuho. "He's no longer a threat! Stop the attack!"

Everyone stopped, and looked at her, confused. They had been told that Xylek was evil, and that he would bring harm to the world, but now Sheena, the granddaughter of the Chief, was telling them that he was no longer dangerous. Xylek stood there holding, much to everyone's surprise, a tree in his hands. He hadn't drawn his sword to defend himself, but had instead uprooted a tree and he had been using it, with great effect, to keep the attackers away. It would be easily dodged, but the ninjas would still have to maintain proper distance to avoid injury.

"If you would have allowed us to explain," Xylek said, tossing the tree to the side, "things would have been much easier. I, Xylek, and that armored woman over there, Setsuna, merely wished to look at the village."

"We don't allow outsiders in," one of the head guards said adamantly. "Not without permission of the village chief."

"Well, considering who Setsuna actually is, you should all be ashamed at attacking her," Sheena said, defending the two armored warriors. "It turns out that her sister was the founder of this village."

Everyone looked at Setsuna, dumbstruck.

"Absurd! She probably doesn't even know the name of the founder. This person is lying!" another guard said.

"Yukimaru," Setsuna said, and everyone was again, shocked. Nobody outside the village would know the first name of the founder, and they began looking at her again. She had removed her helm, and she looked extremely similar to drawings and paintings they had of Yukimaru. It was indeed possible she was related.

"Anyways, I vouch for these two, and as the rest of my friends agree with me, I assume you will have no problem allowing these two into the village," Sheena said as the rest of the heroes began arriving. Lloyd was a bit shocked by the number of armed villagers, as was everyone else.

"Fine, we agree to let this 'Setsuna' in, but that man," everyone looked at Xylek, "should remain outside until we've discussed it further."

"You would make the village founder's sister's fiancé wait at the door like a dog? Absurd. I won't be leaving Setsuna's side anytime soon."

Everyone had stopped any talking they were doing at the mention of the word "fiancé," and now all eyes were focused on Xylek and Setsuna. The heroes hadn't heard this, and Zelos seemed particularly crestfallen at this news.

"Did I say something wrong?" Xylek asked as Setsuna slowly walked over towards him. He looked at her, but her face was hidden by her hair. His instincts told him to run, but he was frozen with fear. In movements so fast they were almost invisible, Xylek suddenly found himself in a tree. Possibly upside-down, but he wasn't sure. Setsuna stood, fuming over the situation.

"You should really learn to be more tactful," she said in a low voice. Xylek was suddenly glad there was about thirty feet separating them. He would need the head start, though he was still unsure why she was angry about him mentioning their engagement. He was proud of it, but was it really improper to talk about it like that in front of so many people?

Setsuna walked around the village, being personally toured by the chief, as she examined what her sister's pride and joy had become. When Setsuna said she had been taking the job as an assassin to support her sister, she had actually meant that she was funding her sister's efforts to establish a village that supported this kind of life-style. She saw that, even after 4000 years, the village still held onto the customs her sister Yukimaru had valued so much.

The people of the village treated Setsuna like a celebrity, but for some reason, they still scorned the ebon-clad knight that stayed with her during her tour.

"Perhaps they got their cold dispositions from your sister, too," Xylek mentioned to Setsuna as they walked around. "She never did like me…"

"Be quiet," she hissed back as the chief was showing them some of the scrolls containing the history of the village. Setsuna found one of the scrolls to be a bit odd, and walked closer to it to examine it. She noticed a small symbol in the corner, which meant that there was a hidden message in the scroll. She chanted the proper password, and the seal activated. The scroll's words suddenly began mixing around, forming an entirely new message. Setsuna grabbed it and read it to herself. She smiled, and turned to Xylek.

"It's for you," she said, handing him the scroll.

He gave her a confused look, but took the scroll and began reading it.

"Xylek, I am sure now that my time has come to an end, but this village will continue. I felt that I should give you this message, as I know you'll eventually find a way to get unsealed. My sister sealed herself away so that she wouldn't die without you, so if you do break her heart, I will come back and remove your head. Remember that. I trust, though, that you'll do everything within your power to make her happy, so I, reluctantly, approve of your engagement. There is a second seal on this scroll, and I would like it if you were to undo it at the marriage ceremony. I have a present I would like to give the both of you."

At the bottom, there was another symbol for a seal, but next to it was written "Yukimaru."

"See? I told you she hated me," he said to Setsuna, handing the scroll back to her. The chief had been surprised that nobody had noticed the strange symbol in the corner for so long, and he planned to berate the historians for missing such an important detail.

"You know, I've been thinking, and I figure we could get married here after this problem with Xegros blows over," Xylek said, and Setsuna stopped mid-step. The chief had wandered off somewhere.

"You make the current issue seem so small if it can be referred to as 'blowing over.' This isn't the best time to talk about… that," she responded.

"Well, I just kind of want it to be official already. Plus, it's easier to say 'wife' than 'fiancé.'"

She turned to hit him, his less-than-serious attitude irritating her, but she saw that he had several blades already pointed at him, as Mizuho's stealth squad had been following him, and after seeing Setsuna's displeasure at his recent comments, had chosen to take action.

"On your word, we will end this pathetic man's life," one of them said, and Xylek wondered why he hadn't decided to wear his helm, regretting it as he now had several blades very close to his face.

"Umm, you guys, you do realize you have been spying on a conversation she would probably not have wanted anyone to hear but us. As of this moment, in case you can't tell, her object of irritation is no longer me, but you," Xylek remarked, and the stealth squad froze.

They immediately went to the ground, and held their own blades to their throats.

"We swear to keep this conversation secret to the grave, and if Lady Setsuna so desires, we will take our lives here and now to assure her!" they yelled.

Being treated like this bothered Setsuna, and her anger subsided into awkward embarrassment.

"Regal-sama!"

Zelos froze, his memory of the encounter in the hospital still quite clear, after hearing the voice of Stacie as she came running up to the group, and everyone turned to look at her. She had a massive pack on her back, which she slowly placed on the ground.

"I received your orders for more supplies, so I personally ran them here!" she said, her smile beaming as she bowed to the duke.

"Ah, yes, thank you Stacie," he responded.

Xylek and Setsuna walked around a building, approaching the group, but Stacie, misreading the situation, vaulted over everyone's heads and rushed Xylek.

"You won't hurt Master Regal again, you brute!"

Xylek sighed as he allowed his newest assailant to slam him to the ground. Setsuna grabbed Stacie by the back of her shirt, and lifted her off of Xylek before she could continue her assault.

"Knock it off," she said, casually throwing Stacie back.

"Stacie, hold on a second," Regal said. "It's okay, he's with us now."

"But-" Stacie was cut off as Regal held his finger to her mouth. She nodded, and then her face began turning very red as she realized how close Regal was standing. She turned and grabbed the supplies, and, after giving Xylek another dirty look, she took them to find out where they should be placed.

"How did she get in here anyways?" Zelos asked, curious about why the guards hadn't stopped her.

"She did a bit of her martial arts training here in Mizuho. Most of the guards are scared of her," Regal answered. This resulted in several blank stares.

"Hey Regal, thanks for what you said earlier," Xylek commented as everyone was eating. Setsuna sat at the head of the table, much to her displeasure, and everyone was finally settled down from the recent events.

"What did I say, exactly?" Regal asked before putting more food into his mouth. He and Xylek had gone all out when preparing this meal, and the group had been scared to look into the kitchen. There had been flames, sharp objects, and other such things flying around. These two cooking in the same kitchen had been almost as intense as their last battle.

"Ah, you said that I was with you guys now. Does that mean you all have finally accepted me as an ally?"

Lloyd coughed on the food he was chewing, trying to say something, but Kratos spoke first.

"We see no point in you showing us your memories if you weren't being honest, and it would be logical to ally ourselves with you, as nobody else here holds any sway over Xegros. Considering we didn't choose to ally with you, but it was you, and Setsuna, who trusted us, we shouldn't be so callous as to still consider you an enemy."

Everyone nodded, and Lloyd had grown silent again after hearing Kratos.

"Alright, then. I'm glad to hear that," Xylek said, showing a bit of relief and relaxing his shoulders a bit.

"Hmm, I can't decide," Raine said, and everyone looked at her.

"Decide what?" Genis asked.

"Whose cooking is better. Regal's is fantastic as always, but Xylek's is really good too."

"Of course it's Regal-sama's!" Stacie immediately blurted out.

"I'd have to say that Xylek's is better," Setsuna commented.

"Well of course you'd say that. He's your _fiancé, _after all," Stacie retorted.

Setsuna blushed at the fact that it had become common knowledge in the village, but she still managed a comeback. "And your infatuation with Regal has nothing to do with your choice?"

Regal coughed as Stacie's face turned beet-red, and everyone quickly finished their meal before all hell broke loose.

Setsuna and Stacie had taken their argument outside, and they were now standing in front of the well. Zelos slowly crept up on them, and popped out from behind the well.

"Hello, my beautiful hunnies. Lovely evening, isn't it?"

They stopped their argument and glared at him. Not giving up easily, he continued.

"You see, with both of you liking different men, you're bound to get into arguments when comparing the two. Wouldn't it be easier if you both simply came with me? We could all get along so well. You two wouldn't have anything to argue about, either. Why, I'd even be willing to-"

He suddenly found himself dangling over the edge of the well, held in the air by both Stacie and Setsuna. Both of the women had a look in their eyes that would normally be reserved for vermin.

"Wait, maybe you two misunderstood what I meant. I was only trying to-"

They dropped him.

"Ah, I wonder where I'm going to sleep tonight," Xylek said, and Lloyd looked at him, confused.

"Why is that an issue?" he asked.

"In case you didn't notice, I have a rather large group of dangerous people, which now includes that insane nurse, wanting rather 'unpleasant' things to happen to me right now."

"I see your point. Why don't you just stay with Setsuna, then? Nobody would dare disturb her,"

"You have a point, but, well, I guess you could call me old fashioned. I feel it would be improper for us to stay in the same room, since we're only engaged at the moment."

"How gentlemanly of you," Raine said, popping her head out.

"Professor! What are you doing there?" Lloyd said, shocked.

"Eavesdropping."

"Not even subtle about it…" Lloyd muttered.

"It's fine. I assume she has some questions to ask me about my magic and such. If you'll excuse us, Lloyd," Xylek said as he stood, preparing for the inquisition he was about to endure.

They all stopped for a second when they heard Zelos yell, followed by a loud splash. Many people around the village covered their faces with their palms when they heard this.

Later, as everyone was settling down to sleep, the guys noticed an empty futon in the building they were staying in.

"Is that Zelos' futon?" Genis asked, having not seen him for a while.

"Probably. I wonder where he went," Emil pondered.

"Xylek isn't here, either," Genis noted as well.

"Do you think he sleeps in that armor?" Emil asked, curious.

They realized they had never seen Xylek without his suit of armor, and wondered if he actually slept with it on.

Several runes on Xylek's armor pulsed, and the armor seemed to soften as it took another form: loose-fitting clothing for sleeping. The runes now seemed like embroidery, and he realized that, in reality, he hadn't truly removed his armor in over 4000 years. He crawled into his futon, positioned in the corner of the room he was in, and slowly began to drift off. Setsuna was positioned in the large bed in the middle of the room. It had been constructed exclusively for her, and it was much more comfortable than the futons that had been provided to everyone else.

"Xylek, this bed is really big. I trust you, so you should really just-" she was cut off by a very loud cough from Xylek.

"That… won't be necessary," he said from his corner, which he had picked out. "The only reason I'm here is for safety purposes. I wouldn't put it past that Stacie girl to try to 'remove' me in my sleep."

"Fine, have it your way," she said with a smile, since he was embarrassed to be in the same room as her for the night. "I've been considering you suggestion from earlier, and I think we should have a small ceremony tomorrow. You were right. Over 4000 years is too long to be engaged."

He coughed again, and even though she couldn't see his face, she knew it was as red as could be. She also knew he would fall asleep with a grin big enough to scare some children.

**Xylek: Chivalry isn't dead. **

**Tiger: And neither is comedy**


	16. Chapter 16: At What Cost

**Chapter 16: At What Cost?**

Zelos sat shivering at breakfast. It seemed, to his extreme displeasure, that everyone had forgotten about the fact that he had been dropped into the well. That well had become his residence the previous night, and he was fished up the next morning, cold, wet, and very angry.

"You, good sir, have no eloquence when it comes to addressing women. You make your intent known far too early," Efreet said to the shivering chosen seated next to him.

"You're not much better," snarked Celsius, disgusted that a summon spirit would be capable of being a pervert, even if he was a bit more subtle about it.

"Such cold words…" Efreet remarked back with a grin. Celsius simply crossed her arms and glowered.

The door slid open, and a man wearing a deep blue shirt with black pants walked in and sat down, helping himself to the food prepared before them. Everyone looked at him, confused about the fact that a stranger had simply walked in and begun eating. He quickly buried his face in the food, but, after noticing everyone's stares, he looked up. Much to everyone's surprise, it was Xylek.

"Oh, Xylek, I didn't recognize you," Raine said, staring at the man who seemed to be in an extremely cheery mood.

"Why?" he responded with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, you're not wearing your armor, for starters," said Genis.

"Ah, yes, it was getting to be a bit inconvenient, and it was not appropriate attire for… well, I'm not saying anything, on the account of the fact that I apparently have a tendency to get myself in trouble saying things I shouldn't."

With that, Setsuna walked in, also lacking armor, but instead garbed in the traditional clothing of the people of Mizuho. She sat down next to Xylek and also began eating. Everyone felt awkward, for some reason, and Sheena spoke up.

"Hey, what was it that you guys needed the chief for earlier this morning?" she asked, and Xylek coughed as he began choking on the egg he was eating. He looked at Setsuna, who didn't show any sign of responding, as she was hiding her face behind her food.

Regal, being rather insightful, spoke up. "It seems these two are no longer engaged, if my intuition is correct."

Everyone's eyes got big at the revelation, and Lloyd stood up.

"Wait, you guys broke it off? Even after all of this time? What happened?" he asked, shocked.

It felt as if a gust blew through the room as everyone simultaneously sighed.

"Lloyd, you're an idiot. Sit down," Sheena said, yanking him back to his seat.

"Look at those two," said Marta, pointing at Xylek and Setsuna. "If they broke it off, would Xylek be sitting there with that idiotic grin on his face?"

Setsuna looked over, and sure enough, Xylek had a huge, stupid grin on his face. She smacked him in the back of the head, and he immediately buried his face in food, as to avoid possible brain damage from repeated slaps to the head. Lloyd still looked confused, and Tenebrae rolled his eyes.

"It means they got married, Lloyd," he said.

Lloyd's face went blank as he realized his own idiocy, and he, too, buried his face in his food to avoid the looks he was getting.

"Awww, why didn't you guys invite us?" Colette said, sad that she had missed seeing it.

"Probably because they didn't want certain people here making a big fuss over it," Raine said, looking at Zelos, Marta, and Efreet. They all attempted to look innocent, but failed miserably.

"I see you guys have matching necklaces, now, too," said Richter, inserting himself into a conversation he would normally just observe.

"Ah, yes, these were the gifts from Yukimaru. Such a nice gift…" Xylek trailed off, seemingly less-than-thrilled about it.

"Is there something special about them?" Stacie asked.

"They allow you to read the heart of the person wearing the other one," Setsuna said.

"Why does Xylek seem annoyed by it?" Genis inquired, curious as to why such a gift would make him unhappy.

"It's because it reacts to certain emotions. Dishonesty, for example, will make the gem in the center glow red," she explained.

"Yes, but who was it that got all self-conscious about her cooking this morning and asked the nearest person their opinion?" Xylek snarked.

"Well, I thought I should try making a meal for once instead of always letting you do the work," said Setsuna back. "I asked if it was good, and-"

"And I said it was fantastic," Xylek interrupted.

"Yes, but you were lying. The gem pulsed red as soon as 'fantastic' came out of your mouth."

"Considering your history, it was…" Xylek muttered, and the gem pulsed red again. Setsuna raised her hand to smack him again, but the gem had lost its glow as Xylek spoke up.

"To me, since you prepared it especially for me, it tasted fantastic," he said, and the gem remained transparent. She lowered her hand.

"Yes, that would be a troubling gift," Efreet said. "It keeps him from being able to lie for her sake."

"Honesty is the best policy," Celsius said quickly.

"Okay, then, honestly, you're looking lovely this morning," he said back, and she simply picked up a bowl of oatmeal and threw it at his face.

"Flattery will get you nowhere."

Zelos began laughing to himself as oatmeal dripped from Efreet's not-so-happy face. The rest of the meal went without incident, though Setsuna kept trying to get Xylek to lose his indomitable grin, to no avail. She found it so goofy that she herself had started smiling. Unfortunately, the cheery mood would soon turn to more serious issues.

"So, do you have any idea how to find Xegros?" Yuan asked Xylek, who was now garbed in his signature armor.

"Well, I'd say he'll find us eventually. Knowing him, he's not going to be too happy about Setsuna knocking him out cold, and you guys almost killing me. And now, to him, it'll look like I've gone and betrayed him."

"So, he'll probably attack us when he feels like it? Shouldn't we get out of Mizuho, then?" Raine said, thinking about what an attack would do to the village.

"Yes, which is why we're leaving today," Setsuna said. "I asked Stacie to get everything ready earlier. Everything should be all set to head out in a few hours."

Everyone stopped what they were doing when there was a loud explosion outside. The very ground shook from the force of the blast, and the heroes hurried out to see the cause, though they had already guessed who was responsible. The main gate to the village was engulfed in flames, and Xegros stood in the opening.

"Xegros, wait!" Xylek yelled, running forward to stop his friend. Xegros simply raised his hand, and a massive serpent of flame erupted out of the ground at Xylek's feet. Xylek was thrown through the air, and he landed in the forest outside the village. Xegros turned and ran to where he had landed. Setsuna, not waiting for everyone else to grab their weapons, dashed after them, as she was already armored and had her sword drawn. The rest of the heroes worked as fast as they could to catch up.

Xylek and Setsuna stood together, looking at Xegros, who stood a short distance from them. Everyone else had yet to arrive.

"Xegros, wait," Xylek tried to say again, but Xegros cut him off.

"Wait, wait, wait. I'm done waiting. 4000 years, Xylek, 4000 whole years! Even after all of this time, this world remains the same. Look at it. People still fight. Racism is everywhere, and that damned brat Mithos was worshipped as a hero! It can't be fixed. It can't be saved. I've decided to just start over. A blank slate. With that, perhaps I'll finally be able to see a world that I've always dreamed of." Xegros' eyes were glowing a dull red, the pupils small slits in the middle.

Everyone else arrived, but Kratos kept them all back.

"We need to let them try to reason with Xegros first," he explained. "If this can be solved without conflict, those two would be the only ones capable of it."

Setsuna yelled back. "You would sacrifice all of the living creatures on this planet to see a world 'without war?' That can't lead to a peaceful planet, only an empty one."

"Empty? Of humans and elves and everything between, perhaps, but this world would simply inherit new, better residents." Xylek glared after hearing Xegros' words.

"What are you talking about?" he said to his "friend."

"Ah, yes, I suppose I never told you about the friends I made when we were sealed away. I'm not quite as weak as you anymore, Xylek. You were always my equal, but at the same time you were my opposite. The scales have gone in my favor, you see. I relied on you too much, and you betrayed me. I have a few things I have to do now, but I don't need your help anymore. All I have to do is open the door, and everything else will take care of itself."

"So that's what it is… Xegros, you listened to them? The voices? They sought to take advantage of our solitude while we were sealed. Xegros, those were inhabitants of Niflheim. You couldn't tell?"

"All I needed to know is that with them, I wasn't alone. Now, and forever, I won't be alone. I won't lose anything important to me. It's perfect." Xegros had begun laughing as he spoke, a chilling, inhuman laugh.

Xylek bowed his head, and Setsuna put her hand on his back.

"Fine, if you won't listen to us, we'll make you hear!" Xylek shouted as he drew his sword. Xegros didn't flinch, but also drew his blade, his laughter subsiding.

"You don't have the strength to make me do anything anymore, Xylek. I'm greater than both you and Setsuna, now. I am the strongest being on this planet."

"Too bad you're not the fastest," Setsuna said, suddenly behind him.

He turned and blocked the slash she aimed at him, only to see her place her hand in his face. His eyes widened for a brief moment once he realized he couldn't get away. Setsuna's hand glowed for an instant before a massive beam of light shot out, sending Xegros hurling through the air. Before he could steady himself to ready a counter attack, Xylek had gotten behind him and sent him careening back to earth before holding him down with his foot.

Xegros' breathing slowed as anger coursed through his veins. The runes on his armor pulsed, responding to his will. A massive explosion erupted from Xegros, sending Xylek flying back crashing into a tree and knocking it over. Even after the attack, Xylek quickly got back to his feet, ready to continue this battle.

"You two are more trouble than you're worth," Xegros said, spitting off to the side.

"You say you're not alone, Xegros, but where are your friends?" Setsuna asked. "You won't be able to beat both of us, and there are even more people here to stop you, even if you could take both me and Xylek on at the same time. You're fighting a losing battle."

"Really, now…" Xegros waved his sword in the air, and several massive flame dragons erupted from the ground. The flames were much stronger than the previous ones Setsuna had faced.

"I have a few tricks too," Xylek said, planting his sword in the ground. Two of the flame dragons stopped moving as they instantly turned to ice.

"You think a little ice will stop beings of fire?" Xegros asked, amused that his old friend would even try such a thing.

"Who said I was stopping them?" Xylek responded. The two dragons started moving again, and they lunged at Xegros. The other flame dragons blocked them and the elemental creatures began fighting. Outnumbered, the ice dragons were shattered quickly, but Xylek and Setsuna hadn't stood by and watched. They charged at Xegros again, and the three warriors became a blaze of clashing swords and armor. Xegros had formed a second blade of flames to help deal with the combined swordplay of Xylek and Setsuna. It didn't help much, with Setsuna's deft sword play easily able to get around his defenses, and with Xylek also pressuring him, he had no way to counter.

Xegros leapt back, but Setsuna continued pressing the attack. Xylek saw that the fire dragons could cause a lot of damage if left to their own accord, so decided he had to get rid of them before they'd join in the battle. However, as he raised his blade to channel a spell at them, dozens of pillars of light descended from the sky pelting them with holy magic. Xylek looked behind him, seeing Kratos Yuan and Colette all with their wings out. "Well handle them; you help Setsuna take care of Xegros."

Xylek nodded and returned to the aid of his wife. With his dragons gone and seeing Xylek rejoin the battle against him, Xegros started getting frustrated and began making careless mistakes which his opponents capitalized on.

Setsuna deftly kicked her opponent's sword wrist, loosening his grip on his blade, which she then struck out of his hand. Xylek, seeing his opportunity, lunged in and stabbed Xegros in the ribs, causing crimson blood to flow out from the armor. The air shook as Xylek began forcing the power of the summon spirits out of his old friend. The essence of shadow was blasted into the air, and Shadow himself appeared and reclaimed it. Efreet ran forward, knowing his power would be next. Xegros, on the other hand, would not allow that to happen. He let out a feral growl, and he unleashed the full extent of the power of fire he had.

A giant column of flame leapt up, surrounding Xegros. Xylek and Setsuna jumped back, and Efreet stopped his advance, as he knew what his own power was capable of. Xegros' sword pulsed, and flew back to its owner's hand.

"It seems like we need more power…" Xegros said, his eyes smoldering from the rage behind them. "More… we'll get more… we'll open the seal… and then, all will be dust before us…" His voice was warped, and the flames around him had begun to blacken.

"That…that's no longer Xegros. He's gone."

Setsuna said this, looking at Xylek, who had already sheathed his blade.

"But he was talking earlier… he still had his old dream, distorted as it was. There's still a shred of his humanity left." Xylek stood at his best friend through the raging flames, not willing to just give up like that. No, there had to be something he could do to save his best friend.

"No, Xylek. He's sold his soul for this power. They've already devoured it, Xylek. That thing there is the embodiment of the demons' hatred. That 'dream' is a hollow memory of what he was. He's gone. We can't bring him back…"

Xegros turned and slashed the very air, opening a rip in space. He walked into the tear, which closed behind him. Xylek staggered backwards, his hands on his head. He took off his helm and threw it to the ground. He collapsed to his knees and punched the earth in frustration.

"We're going to have to kill him, it seems," Kratos said, and Richter nodded.

"He's gone far beyond what I had," Richter said, having almost lost his soul to the demons not too long ago.

Everyone stood, shocked at the scene they had witnessed. They looked at Xylek, who was crushed at the loss of his friend, and Setsuna, who was at a loss for words to comfort him. A day that started with such joy shouldn't end in such a horrible way.

**Xylek: Yeah, so much for the honeymoon…**

**Tiger: I have the feeling these next few chapters won't have much comedy…**


	17. Chapter 17: What is Love?

**Chapter 17: What is Love?**

"Pay attention!"

The young girl flinched as her father yelled at her. She sat next to her sister, listening to their father as he was teaching.

"Sheesh, Setsuna, you should behave more like your sister. She's already got this technique mastered. How long are you going to goof around?" he said, berating his daughter.

"Father, stop. She's doing just fine," Yukimaru said, defending her younger sister.

Yukimaru was the inheritor to their clan, and Setsuna had always grown up in her shadow. Yukimaru was good at everything she did. She could easily beat any of the boys in their small village, while Setsuna had difficulty with the most simple of techniques. Even so, nobody doubted her determination to help her older sister.

The problem was that the village was slowly losing its way. More and more of the families had started to abandon the old traditions in favor of just living simply. This irritated Yukimaru's and Setsuna's father to no end, though, so he was determined to continue their legacy with his daughters. He placed all of his hope in Yukimaru, nearly ignoring Setsuna in the process.

"Setsuna, you'll need to support your sister so she can continue our traditions," he had said to her. He never asked her what she dreamed to do, only seeing her as an accessory to Yukimaru. Setsuna was a quiet child, unable to speak up and voice her own opinion. Her sister protected her vigilantly, though.

"It's the older sister's responsibility to take care of her younger sister, after all," she'd say with a smile. 'She's so strong,' is what Setsuna always thought. 'Maybe that's all I'm good for. Just making my sister shine even brighter. Nobody sees me anyways, always hiding in her shadow…'

…

Not long after their father died, the village became an empty ghost town, the previous residents moving to major cities and towns. Being young teenagers in a time of war, they were unwanted. They were forced to take odd jobs and other such forms of employment to live.

"Setsuna, I found a good one. We need to find this old lady's cat that ran away. You take that half of town, and I'll take this half," Yukimaru said with a smile. Setsuna just nodded. She turned and began searching the various places a cat might hide. In an alley behind a bar, she found the cat, curled up near some boxes.

"Come here, little guy," she said, coaxing the cat over with her hand. It looked at her weirdly at first, but soon it ran right up to her and rubbed against her leg.

"See, it's okay. Your mommy was looking for you. Here, I'll take you home," she said, gently scooping the cat up in her arms.

"Aww, that looks nice. How about you give me a turn," a rough voice said, and Setsuna stopped cold. She turned and looked, and there were several large, brutish looking men standing at the entrance to the alleyway. Setsuna, despite her training, was frozen with fear.

"What's with that look?" the guy in front said, and they slowly approached her. She turned to run, but he grabbed her shoulder. The cat jumped out of her arms and attacked the man, almost as if it were protecting her. He yelled as it scratched his face, but he grabbed it and threw it across the alley. It landed on its feet, and let out a low hiss.

"Damn brat, look at what your cat did to my face. I'm gonna make you suffer for that-"

He stopped talking as the girl kicked him in the chin, sending him sprawling. Startled, he stood up and pulled out a knife. His friends also had knives, and Setsuna slowly backed away as they surrounded her.

"It seems you aren't just any little girl. That was a nice kick."

"If you thought that was a nice kick, you'll love this one," another girl's voice said, and as the men turned to look at where it came from, they were promptly thrown in various directions as Yukimaru jumped into their group. She knocked them off their feet, and proceeded to knock them out. The whole incident took a little under five seconds.

The cat walked over to Setsuna again, and looked up at her with an inquisitive gaze.

"Yay! You found the cat! That lady is going to be so happy. Hey, Setsuna, are you okay?" Yukimaru asked, looking at her younger sister.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry you had to save me again. I don't know what happened, but I just froze up when they pulled out the knives," she said, picking the cat up once again.

"It's nothing. You just got a little scared. Even I get scared sometimes, but I just smile to myself and get over it,"

'Of course you can do that,' Setsuna thought to herself.

"Oh well, we should go take this cat back. The reward is pretty nice. It belongs to some rich old lady."

Setsuna nodded, and followed her sister.

…

The Tethe'allan soldier crumpled to the ground as Setsuna knocked him out from behind. She skirted along the rooftop, looking for a window. It had been a few weeks since she joined the Sylvaranti assassination squad. At first, she only had to do reconnaissance, but now they were sending her on actual missions. This was only her second mission, though, and she had pitifully failed her first one. Her sister Yukimaru had opened a small dojo, and she was trying to help spread their fighting style. The dojo wasn't doing so well, though, and Setsuna took it upon herself to help her sister in any way she could, which was why she took this job.

She slowly moved through the castle, and found the master bedroom. The man she was to assassinate was a high-ranking noble in the Tethe'allan army. She would just sneak up to him, and slit his throat in his sleep. Painless, soundless, and clean. By the time anyone noticed, she would be miles away.

Setsuna walked up to the sleeping man, and slowly pulled the blanket away from his face. She was startled when she saw, that between him and his wife, was a little girl. Their daughter. 'No,' she thought, 'I have to do this! I need this job to make sure the dojo doesn't close!'

"Papa? Who's that lady standing there?" the daughter said sleepily, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.

'Crap!' Setsuna thought, and immediately vanished into the shadows.

"Huh? What?" the man said, sitting up and looking around. Seeing nothing, he looked at his daughter and patted her on the head. "It's nothing, honey. You must have been dreaming. Go back to sleep. Papa is going to go get something to drink real fast. I'll be right back."

He got up and, grabbing his robe, walked into the dimly-lit hallway.

'Now!' Setsuna thought to herself, but she found that she was unable to move in to kill the man. For some reason, she just couldn't do it, knowing the kind of look that would be in his daughter's eyes. As he walked by a window, she heard a low hiss followed by a thud. An arrow, expertly fired from outside, had buried itself in his neck. He had died on impact, and his body slumped to the ground.

'The secondary team!' she thought to herself as she escaped out the window she had entered. She had failed the mission yet again. She had all the skills required of an assassin, but she could never bring herself to kill her target.

…

"Setsuna, what the hell?" the spymaster said, looking at her with disappointment. "You had ample time to eliminate the target. Why did you hesitate?"

"His daughter-"

"She's not cut out for this line of work, boss," a man said from behind her. His name was Laurence, and he had been the one to fire the arrow that killed the target the night before. It was his job to help if something went wrong during a mission.

"She still deserves a little credit, though. Without her, that man would have never gotten up and walked by that window. Made my job that much easier." He said this with a small grin.

The spymaster just sighed. "Setsuna, I know you're doing this for your sister, but if you want to keep working with us, you'll have to really prove yourself on your next mission."

The spymaster was a kind old man, very knowledgeable and wise. He had been a terrifying assassin in his own right during his prime, but now he just helped others. He looked through some papers he had on his desk, and found what he was looking for. "Ha! Found one!"

Everyone looked over at him, but he made a 'shooing' motion and they went back to whatever they were doing. "Setsuna, come here. I've found the perfect mission for you."

Setsuna was nervous, but she walked up to the spymaster. She took the paper from him and looked at it. "Who's this 'Xylek' person?"

Several people coughed on their drinks, and looked at her in disbelief.

"You've never heard of the Tethe'allan Armor Knights?" one of the guys said from the bar.

"Yes, but what does that have to do with this 'Xylek' person?" she inquired.

"He's their commander," Laurence said.

The color quickly drained from her face. The Armor Knights were terrifying on the battlefield, she had heard. They were merciless, and they killed thousands of innocent people as they marched.

"Pah! Don't believe all the rumors you hear from the government," the spymaster said. "The Armor Knights aren't as scary as they sound. Rumors get blown out of proportion. Anyways, yes, Xylek is the name of their commander. Nasty piece of work. Nobody can find any information on him other than the fact that he was recruited by General Toole himself, and he was only a child at the time."

"Recruited as a child?" she asked, wondering about her target.

"Yes. It seems he has no family, and was recruited after he killed several soldiers in a dispute. Toole got really famous for it, too. Bumbling idiot. Rumors say that he was assassinated a few days ago, and that Xylek is up for promotion to his position."

So, this Xylek was a prospective candidate for the general of the entire Tethe'allan army.

"You can't seriously be giving this kind of target to _her_," Laurence said in a mocking tone.

"I absolutely can. After she succeeds on this, nobody will be able to doubt her resolve," the spymaster said, putting an encouraging hand on her shoulder. "Remember, he has no family, and he's grown up being trained as a soldier. He has no problems taking another's life. He's responsible for the deaths of thousands of men. Your emotions shouldn't be affected by someone like him."

"Hey, girl, remember: this guy is no slouch. He's been killing all his life, as far as anyone can tell. If you can't take him out immediately, you need to run," Laurence said. "He'll rip you to shreds if you try to stand toe-to-toe with him."

"How uncharacteristic of you to be concerned for me, Laurence," Setsuna said, with a certain amount of bite to her words.

"I won't have anyone to tease if you go and die. Be sure to come back, at least."

"Yeah, yeah…"

He was right. This 'Xylek' was a cruel person, who took lives for a living. He'd been doing this all his life. He had no family to speak of, so nobody would be sad at his death. Well, maybe a few politicians, but that's all the better. She could definitely do this. She quickly wrote a letter to Yukimaru telling her that she was going to have something special to show her after this mission.

…

It was strange. She had confirmed the rumors that General Toole had been murdered several days before, but she was also hearing rumors of the death of the entirety of the Armor Knights.

'Who would be capable of such a thing,' she thought to herself. Xylek himself had not been seen or heard from since the elimination of his unit. 'Did someone already kill him?' she asked herself.

Using the informants she had access to, she heard rumors of a lone knight wandering around one of the forests. Descriptions said that he was rather tall and imposing, and wore a suit of black armor. This matched Xylek's profile, as he was notorious for always wearing a black suit of armor in battle. It made him a target on the battlefield, but rumors stated that he wanted to stick out so he'd get more of a chance to kill people who attacked him based on his armor.

'Such a bloodthirsty person' she thought. It seemed that he was in hiding from whoever killed his unit, and possibly General Toole as well. She had seen the wanted posters for a "phantom half elf" and wondered who that could be. Probably the one Xylek was hiding from. 'Hopefully,' she thought, 'I'll get to him before the other person.'

Sure enough, she eventually found a man wandering around the forests. He did wear black armor, and he seemed to be wandering aimlessly. She was afraid to get too close since he was highly dangerous. She would watch, and then pick the best moment to attack. Then, nobody would be able to call her incompetent. Then, maybe, her sister would be proud of her.

…

She was silent as shadow as she sat in her perch in the tree just outside of his camp. He sat there, eating the food he had prepared. It looked significantly better than the food she'd been preparing for herself the past few days.

She tightly held the poisoned dagger she was going to throw. If this so much as nicked him, he would be dead within three days.

'Okay, just be calm. You can do this,' she assured herself.

'Now!'

She threw the dagger, and it flew through the air perfectly. Her eyes opened wide when he easily moved his head to the side, and looked directly at the tree she was in. She jerked upright, and the branch she was on gave out from her sudden movements.

"Shit!" she said as she hit the ground. She immediately got up and ran into the night. She looked back, but he wasn't pursuing her. 'He probably thinks I may have some traps set up. I should have…' she thought to herself.

That thought gave her an idea, so she spent the rest of the night setting up traps on the path he had been following. 'I hope he doesn't decide to stop walking on this path,' she thought to herself, as it would be irritating to have to disable the traps and move them.

The next day, she observed him clean up his camp, and start back on the path he'd been following. She was tired, but at least he would encounter the traps.

'Yes, he's about to set them-' she thought, but he stopped. He turned, grabbed a stick, and threw it at the tripwires. The blades she had set up flew across the path, and into the forest. The traps had failed. He also set off the backup trap, which threw up a large cloud of dust. She dashed in, and attempted to stab him with her dagger. He was much faster than he looked, though, and he grabbed her wrist and, with a bit of force, he took the dagger from her hand. She managed to jump away, but having been disarmed, she retreated into the forest.

'This guy is ridiculous. He saw the traps, and he even managed to disarm me without drawing a weapon of his own. How am I supposed to ambush this guy when nothing seems to surprise him? He knows he can disarm me, now, so I bet he won't expect a head-on attack! I'll do that!'

The next day, she watched and waited for the best moment for her newest strategy to be utilized. She would jump out and attack him when he wasn't expecting it, and she would stab him in the throat. 'Easy,' she told herself.

He was busy eating, so she took advantage of his supposed unawareness and dashed out of the trees.

'Got him!' she thought as she thrust the dagger at his neck. He raised his hand, which was holding the knife he had been cutting his food with, and parried her attack.

'No way!' she thought to herself. Her dagger had been parried with a food knife!

She barely managed to pull her head back as he stabbed at her with something in his other hand. It snagged on the cloth she had covering her face, and tore it off. She jumped back, and then she saw what he had used. It was a fork. He seemed to stop for an instant, though, as he examined her face closely. She quickly covered herself and disappeared into the trees.

Later that night, she sat at her camp, brooding over her failed attempts at taking her target's life. 'What do I do now?' she thought to herself, eating the rabbit she had prepared. It was bland, but she just needed something to calm her stomach. 'I don't think I'll be able to get this guy.'

The next day, she continued her pursuit, and as she followed him, she realized he must have been trying to track her as he came across her camp from the night before. The only thing that was left was some rabbit from her meal, and he bent over and tasted a piece of it. 'Really? He's tasting my food?'

So far, she couldn't tell where he seemed to be heading. It was like he had no goal in mind, and was just walking around. 'Maybe I should head back and bring some help. Or, maybe, I can find that half-elf person and ask for help. He should be more than willing to assist in the assassination of someone like Xylek.'

She made her camp that night, and, for the first time in a long time, managed to fall into a deep sleep. She awoke the next day, refreshed, and sat up. She looked around, and saw a plate of food next to the fire, which had died during the night. 'I forgot to put wood on the fire last night,' she thought to herself. 'Why was I not cold then…' she looked and saw that she had a blanket. She had no recollection of having a blanket. The blanket looked familiar, though, and as she examined it, the shock hit her. 'Xylek's!' She stood up, wide-eyed, and looked around. She saw no movement in the trees, and she kicked the blanket away.

"What the hell…" she audibly said, as she looked at the food on the plate that Xylek had most likely left. 'I bet he wants me to eat this. Is this his idea of a joke, the blanket and the food?'

She quickly went to check the traps, as she was hungry. All of them were empty. 'That bastard…' she thought to herself. She went back to her camp, sat down, and examined the food. It looked good, and she _was_ really hungry…

"It's got to be a trick. It's probably poisoned. Little did he know, I can cleanse poison!"

Setsuna used a bit of her magic as she waved her hands over the food. There was a small flash of light from her hands, but the food showed no reaction. She tried several more times, and after no reaction, she realized that the food wasn't actually poisoned. She reheated it over her fire, and began eating.

'Am I really eating this? I should have just thrown it in the bushes,' she thought to herself, but she was surprised at how good it was. 'This is even better than Yukimaru's cooking. Oh yeah, I haven't had anything worth eating in a while. Rabbit was getting old…'

Setsuna sat there, confused. Maybe the person she was following wasn't Xylek. Just some random drifter who felt sorry for her. But then again, maybe it _was_ Xylek trying to trick her. She set the plate to the side, trying to forget the taste.

"It was alright, I suppose. But what is he playing at?" she asked herself "That bastard ripped my mask off, though, so I can't forgive him! Especially since he did it with… a… fork…" The last word seemed to hang over her head, taunting her

She put her face in her hands. "Why do I always screw up so much? Maybe they sent me on this mission to try to get rid of me? I'd heard that the guy was dangerous, but now he seems to be toying with me. Is he going to kill me in my sleep after messing with my head? I'm confused…"

She immediately began searching for him, but it seemed that he had become the one doing the stalking. "Great, I even lost him. Now what?"

Setsuna was torn, not knowing if the information they had received was right. She was worried that her tormentor might get bored and just kill her, as he seemed to posses the ability to do so. That night, she would be sure to be alert. If he was going to try something, she was going to be ready. Ready with a dagger. She laid down next to her fire, and acted like she was going to sleep. Unfortunately, the fire was warm, and she eventually dozed off.

She awoke with a jerk, and she immediately noticed that he had been there after she had drifted off. She saw the same blanket.

"Damn him!" she shouted, furious at his mocking. She saw another plate of food, and became even angrier. "Damn him again!"

She noticed something on the ground, and realized it was the mask he had torn from her face. She picked it up, and after noticing it was wrapped around something, she unfolded it. He had wrapped it around a fork. Her face turned red from anger. She heard a laugh, and realized he was watching. She shouted at him, thoroughly ticked.

"You bastard, you think this is funny? You're going to slip up, and I'll get you then! You hear?" She took the fork and threw it, burying it in a tree.

She needed to calm down, so she went to rinse her hair in a nearby stream. Coming back to her camp, sure enough, her fire had been re-ignited, and next to the fire sat the plate of food, freshly heated. Sticking up from the food was the fork. "Why that… AAARH!"

She aimed a kick at the food, but her foot glanced off a protective ward. The ward wrote a few words in the air. It said "Don't be wasteful."

Her face turned purple from the anger she felt. She sighed, sat down, and checked the food for poison. If he was going to provide food, why let it go to waste? It irritated her that she agreed with the mocking words of the ward on the plate. She began eating, but after noticing she was using the fork, she scowled, bent the fork in half, and threw it into the bushes. After she finished the food, she thought about how to get back at him. 'I could burn the blanket and break his plate, maybe.'

It sounded childish, and she shook her head. 'Wait, how is there a ward on that plate?'

She was shocked by this revelation, as it meant that whoever it was that was messing with her could use magic. She examined the rune on the plate, and it looked poorly drawn. A self-taught magician, perhaps. Maybe her tormenter was actually the phantom half-elf. Maybe she could just confront him. If she could find him, of course.

That night, as she sat near her fire, thinking of what to do, she heard a noise. It was snoring.

'Ha! He got careless and fell asleep! I'll go take a look at this guy up close, then.'

She grabbed her dagger and went to investigate. She found him sleeping against a tree, and closely examined his attire. He wore Tethe'allan armor, complete with an officer's seal on the breastplate. This guy was no half-elf. He was most definitely a soldier. She was working for Sylvarant, so just wearing this armor meant she should kill him, even if it wasn't her target.

"Hehe, got you, bastard."

She pulled out her dagger, but she had no urge to stab him. Even though he'd been toying with her the past few nights, she didn't feel that he had actually meant her harm. It almost felt like it was being done by a kid who just wanted to have fun. On closer examination, she was shocked to realize that he looked to be her age, probably at most in his very early twenties. She kept staring at his face, and, sure enough, her resolve to stab him completely vanished when she saw how peaceful he was sleeping. He looked like he'd been enjoying himself when he drifted off, as the remnant of a smile was still on his face.

"Damn it all!" she yelled, which startled him awake.

"Crap!" he yelled. He started to jump up, but he noticed that her dagger lay in the dirt at her feet, and she was leaning against a tree, covering her face. She had no idea what was wrong with herself.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked.

"What's it matter to you?" she said, not looking at him, too ashamed of her lack of ability.

"Well, I just wanted to-" he tried to say, but she cut him off.

"Shut up! What're you trying to pull, eh? Acting all nice like that." She was flustered. She had no idea who this guy was, or why he'd been messing with her.

"Acting? I just gave you a blanket and some food."

"Exactly! I've been trying to kill you! And then you do that? Is there something wrong in your head?"

"I've been told that," he responded, and she gave a sarcastic laugh.

"Anyways, your 'attempts' weren't very successful, but they did give me something to do, so I suppose I should thank you."

"So I was just entertainment?" She had been right. He was bored, and found messing with her amusing. Just like a kid.

"Well, you _were_ trying to kill me. I just happen to be very good at not dying. It's a curse, really."

"Ha ha," was all she said.

"Well, to be honest, I don't know why I was helping you. It's just this… feeling I've got in my chest compels me to. For some reason, I just wanted to be sure you were safe."

"So what, you saying you've _fallen_ for me? How does that make sense?" she said as she turned to look at him. Absurd. He'd seen her face once, and fallen in love? That only happens in stories. Then she remembered the look he had on his face when he had stolen her mask and looked at her.

"I have no idea. I've never felt like this before, though, so I don't know if I've fallen for you or not. Pitiful, I know." He rubbed the back of his head, not knowing what to say, and she just looked at him. He seemed awkward in the current situation. Of course, she didn't feel spectacular at that moment, either.

"So, um, you probably know this, but my name is Xylek. What's yours?"

"You _are _Xylek? Don't joke." She stared at him, drilling him with her icy blue eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I know you can use magic. Xylek is no half-elf. He's a captain-"

"Was a captain. I was a captain. Not anymore, though. I deserted my post."

This surprised her. Was he telling the truth?

"Why would Xylek, a captain who struck fear into the hearts of his enemies, leave?"

"I would leave when following orders would mean slaughtering an entire village of half-elves. I left after I killed the General of the entire Tethe'allan army, in addition to my own men, the elite 'Armor Knights.' I could no longer play as a human. I took my revenge on the people that slew my family nine years ago, and left. I expect they are also trying to take my head. For my sake, I hope their assassins are about as competent as you."

She was shocked. He was saying that, not only was he Xylek, but that he was also the "phantom half-elf." He looked human, but then again, so did she. Her mother had been a half-elf. It then struck her that he had insulted her with that last sentence.

"Shut up!" she said, thinking of nothing else to say.

"No. I know you're a half-elf, too. Why would you be working as an assassin?"

So he'd detected the magic on her mask that made it perfectly mask her breathing.

"I need to support my sister, so I take jobs like this. I work for Sylvarant's assassination squad."

"But, this is your first mission, isn't it?"

"N-no! I've killed plenty of people!" She crossed her arms, and she realized that, to him, she probably didn't look particularly dangerous.

"I doubt that. You don't seem like a killer. I've met people who kill. I'm one of them." His bright green eyes darkened as he seemed to brood over something.

"Yes, I know you're a killer, especially if you really _are_ Xylek. You don't seem to like it very much, though. I've heard of soldiers who have lost to your little group of elites. They say that you wash over the battlefield like a storm, destroying all who resist. But, unlike other commanders, you allow wounded soldiers to escape, and even treat some of them yourself."

She had learned that the rumors of killing innocents had been a lie. The Armor Knights were actually highly respected in Tethe'alla, known for their honorable and honest disposition. And she was now talking to the man who had most likely trained them to be like that.

"Well, if there are survivors, perhaps my reputation will force my enemy to surrender, since they know I will not harm those who surrender. Funny way of winning a battle, eh?"

"No… that's how a kind-hearted person would try to win. To win a war without bloodshed…" She no longer looked at him with irritation, and she was now genuinely curious about this strange person who had, supposedly, fallen in love at first sight with her. Why had he been in the army in the first place?

"Yeah, so, shall we try this again? My name's Xylek. What's yours?" he held out his hand with this question, and she looked at it, and then at him. She saw the genuine smile on his face as he stood there, looking directly into her eyes, and she flushed.

She held out her hand, and grasped his. His hand was huge compared to hers, and for some reason that comforted her.

"I'm Setsuna."

"Oh, Setsuna? That's a beautiful name. I suppose it's obvious you would have a beautiful name, though."

Her face became even more flushed.

"So, Setsuna, I have a question."

"What would that be?"

"How long are you going to hold my hand?"

She hadn't noticed it, but she was indeed still grasping his hand. She quickly yanked it back and turned away.

"Setsuna."

"Wh-what?" she managed to spit out.

"Are you hungry?"

She punched him in the nose.

"Ouch!" he yelled, grasping his face. "What was that for?"

"You. You're an ass," she said, annoyed with him for his carefree attitude. "Stay out of my camp tonight, too."

She turned to go to her camp, and then something soft hit her in the back of the head.

"What in the-" she turned with mild irritation, and looked down. It was a blanket.

"Take it. You don't need to get sick. I have a feeling it'll be cold tonight," he said, turning and walking off into the trees.

She looked at the blanket, and then shouted into the trees, "Thanks!"

'I don't want to seem rude,' she thought to herself, as she was actually quite thankful for the blanket.

…

The next morning, she awoke to find Xylek messing with something over the fire.

"I told you to stay out of my camp!"

"Yes, you said 'tonight' though. It's morning now, so I'm not breaking any rules you set."

"You should consider the fact that your love is unrequited, so making the person you like angry is probably a bad idea, if you want to have a chance."

"So I have a chance?"

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't deny it, either. Anyways, as fun as the word games are, breakfast is ready. I hope you like eggs."

"I'm not picky enough to deny food given freely," Setsuna said as she sat down, ready to eat. Her guest was rather interesting, but she wondered how her employers would react to the current situation.

"Who said it was free?"

She coughed on the bite she had just taken, and looked at Xylek suspiciously.

"What do you want?" she asked, wondering exactly what was going on in his head.

"I want to be able to follow you. I can't very well allow something to happen to you before I've won you over, now can I?"

"So, what, you want permission to stalk me?"

"That's a harsh term for it. How about 'permission to be your bodyguard.' And, now that I think about it, I'll also be doing the cooking."

"Just so you know, I'm heading back to Sylvarant. Over there, you aren't the most popular of individuals, and I'm not taking any responsibility for you."

"Fair enough. Is it a deal?"

"Is what?" She was enjoying being selectively obtuse towards him.

"I'm serious."

"Yes, fine, it's a deal. But, you aren't allowed to do anything… weird."

"Me? I'm offended."

"I'm sure you are. Well, let's head out, then. I have to go try to explain something to my employer."

Honestly, she was wondering how she was going to say that, instead of killing Xylek, she went and allowed him to become her bodyguard/personal chef.

…

"Oh, you survived? I win the pot!" Laurence said as Setsuna walked into her place of employment.

"You made bets?"

"Yup, and I was the only one who bet you'd survive."

"How… reassuring. I need to see the spymaster," she said.

"I'm right here," he said, coming out of his office in the back. "Glad to see you've returned. And in good health, too."

"Yes, I survived. You weren't in on the gambling, were you?"

The spymaster laughed and shook his head. "I don't find the possibility of losing a friend a particularly good thing to bet on."

"Aww, the boss is sweet on Setsuna," Laurence said, taking a drink of his beer. The building they worked in also happened to have a bar.

"Aww, Laurence is jealous of the old man," someone else said, and Laurence turned and threw his beer mug at the offender. "Stuff it!"

Everyone started laughing, but it got quiet when the doors opened and a rather large hooded figure walked in.

"I told you to wait outside," Setsuna said, irritated.

"People kept looking at me weird. It's not like coming in here is going to get me killed…"

Xylek's words trailed off as he noticed the shady people seated in the establishment.

"Hey, buddy, I don't know who you are, but not just anyone comes in here," Laurence said.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not from around here."

"We can tell," the spymaster said, examining their guest with a healthy bit of suspicion. "Of course, if Setsuna knows you, I'm sure it'll be okay for now. You're quite the big one, too," he observed, as Xylek easily stood over 6 feet tall.

Xylek was also closely examining the spymaster, looking intently at his face.

"If I might ask, sir, did you have any siblings?" he asked, surprising Setsuna and the rest of the people inside.

"Why?"

"You look like someone I once knew. I just felt it would be incredibly ironic if you were related."

"I did have a brother, but he died around… 9 years ago, I think?"

Xylek's face froze. The spymaster furrowed his eyebrows at his response.

"Was his name Albert?"

This time the spymaster's face froze.

"It seems you _are_ his brother, then. The world is truly small," Xylek said with a mild chuckle.

"Indeed. How did you know him? I was rather distraught when I heard he had been killed in a scuffle with some soldiers."

"Oh, he saved my life. I was a, well, I had just obtained the status of 'orphan' when he found me wandering around. He let me work for him for a bit."

Setsuna was shocked. Then again, having known the spymaster's brother would make things a lot easier to explain, since it seems that Xylek had been a friend. She shook her head at such a coincidence.

"Ah, you must be that little rag-tag boy he found. He wrote me a few letters mentioning you."

"He never told me about any of his family, just that they were scattered all over."

"Well, since it seems that my brother took care of you, I can also extend the favor. Welcome to the Sylvaranti Assassination Squad's headquarters. I am the spymaster, Allen."

"I'm not going to call you 'Al,'" Xylek quickly said.

"Well, just address me as 'spymaster' or 'old man.' Everyone else does," he motioned to the various people who had been watching the exchange.

"What should I call you, then? My brother never did mention your name in his letters."

"Ah, well, my name… umm, you can call me… Zenryu," Xylek said, knowing that his own name would not be something good to give in the middle of a group of people who killed for a living.

"Zenryu it is!" the old man said, slapping him on the back. The loud clang of armor rang through the bar. "Ouch! What do you have on under that cloak?"

"Yeah, exactly how do you know Setsuna, 'Zenryu'?" Laurence said, walking up to Xylek.

"It's okay, Laurence. He helped me while I was out on the mission." Setsuna tried to position herself between the two men, who had taken to glaring at each other.

"Oh yes, the mission. How did that go?" the spymaster asked.

"How was the mission phrased?" Xylek asked, and the spymaster raised his eyebrow at the question.

"It was 'The elimination of the Tethe'allan officer known as Xylek' if I recall."

Xylek smirked, and Setsuna realized that she had, indeed succeeded in her mission. There was no longer a Tethe'allan officer named Xylek.

"The mission was a success," she proudly said.

"I win that pot!" the spymaster yelled, and everyone else in the bar groaned.

"You bet on that, too?"

"Why of course. I had total faith in you, though. I'm even going to split the winnings with you," the old man said, grinning. She looked at Laurence, who scratched the back of his head.

"You didn't bet that I'd succeed?" she inquired in a teasing tone.

"I just didn't bet on that one," he said. "Like I said, I only thing I really wanted was for you to not get killed by that brute."

Xylek coughed, and Laurence looked up at him.

"I don't particularly like you, buddy. The name 'Zenryu' didn't seem like your real name," Laurence said, regarding Xylek with suspicion. "And, what do you have under that cloak of yours?"

"That would be a suit of armor, considering my choice of profession."

"What would that be?" Laurence inquired.

"I'm a chef-" Xylek started to say, but Setsuna smacked the back of his head. His attitude was starting to grate on her. He would have said it with a straight face, too.

"He's a bodyguard for hire," she said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Doesn't seem like much," Laurence said. "Why would he have followed you here? It's not like you hired him, or anything. Or did you?"

"He's currently offering me his services, free of charge. If you want to ask why, you may inquire him, though I doubt he'll give you a serious answer," she said.

"I think I will ask. So, 'Zenryu,' why did you offer Setsuna your services for free? Not much of a way to make a living."

"It's because I fell in love with her as soon as I saw her face."

Setsuna froze, and the people around the bar simultaneously stopped and looked. Everyone knew that Laurence actually had a thing for her, and the appearance of a 'rival' of sorts would cause a bit of trouble.

"Haha, you're right, Setsuna. He won't give me serious answer. Well, I have things to do, so I'm off. Say hi to your sister for me," Laurence said as he grabbed his things and walked out.

"Oh, yes, you should probably be getting over there. She's been inquiring as to how you were doing, and I was afraid what would happen if she found out what kind of mission you had gone on. Here are your wages," Allen handed Setsuna her payment for a successful mission, and he then walked off to his office and closed his door.

…

"You have a sister?" Xylek asked as they walked towards the dojo.

"Yes, and, from what I can tell, you're going to fall in love with her at first sight, too."

"What?"

"Well, since, for you, love seems to be something that happens based on sight, you'll fall in love with her as soon as you see her. She's much prettier than me," Setsuna said. Everyone always complemented her sister on her good looks, while she herself was rarely mentioned in the same breath.

"I'm sorry you think that," Xylek said.

"Think what?"

"You think you're the first pretty girl I've seen? Did you forget my previous position? I had women chasing after me whenever I went out in public. Of course, they were all as shallow as a person could be. You are the first girl I've met that has given me this… well, it's hard to describe. It feels like my chest will explode whenever I look at your face. It's a… nice feeling."

'This guy might actually be serious,' she thought to herself. 'That's the first time anyone has said something like that to me, too.'

"Enough, we're here," she said, changing the subject. It was a small dojo, but it was well built. She could hear her sister inside, yelling at several students. There weren't many students, so Yukimaru was sure to make the ones she had excellent, whether they wanted to be or not.

"Setsuna!" Yukimaru yelled as soon as she set foot in the dojo, stopping the training. The students all quickly sat down, glad to be given a breather. "I'm so glad you're safe! I didn't hear anything about your mission, so I started getting worried."

Xylek stepped in, and Yukimaru's reaction was rather abrupt.

"You said you'd have something to show me in your note, but you brought back a _guy_ with you?"

"Well, he followed me."

"A stalker!"

"Now hold on a second-" Xylek tried to say, but it was futile.

Yukimaru immediately launched into the air, and attacked Xylek. He blocked her first kick, and proceeded to block and avoid the following flurry of attacks. Yukimaru wasn't holding back, yet she wasn't landing any damaging blows. The students were amazed to see their master go all out on some stranger, who was keeping up. The fighting stopped when Setsuna yelled.

"Knock it off!"

Both Yukimaru and Xylek froze mid-fight, and then backed away from each other. They were both breathing heavily.

"Your sister… *takes a breath* is very good," Xylek said, catching his breath.

"This guy is *also takes a breath* pretty good, too. Class is dismissed for the day." She was also somewhat winded, and she looked embarrassed that she had reacted to a guest in such a violent manner.

The students left, and then Yukimaru demanded a detailed description of what happened on the mission. Setsuna explained.

"So, this guy is actually the guy you were supposed to kill? And you couldn't do it? Why not?" Yukimaru's disappointment was apparent.

"He was too good. Nothing I did worked on him."

"Well, except for your seductive abilities, it seems."

Setsuna blushed at this. 'Wait, why the hell am I blushing?' she thought to herself.

"Setsuna, you lied," Xylek said.

"About?"

"You said your sister was prettier than you. I disagree."

Setsuna and Yukimaru simultaneously punched him in the face.

…

Xylek was off making dinner, most likely in an attempt to impress Yukimaru, so the sisters sat in the dining room, talking and drinking tea.

"So, what do you think of him?" Yukimaru asked.

Setsuna coughed on her tea. "W-what? What do you mean?"

"It's a simple question."

"Well, he's annoying, for starters. He's a bit of a smartass, too."

"And?"

"What do you mean, 'and?'"

"You are describing him, not your thoughts _about_ him. Stop dodging the question."

Setsuna shook her head. "What do I think about him? I'm not sure if I know yet, myself."

Yukimaru looked at her sister, and she laughed a bit.

"I see. You have no idea what to think when some random guy comes out of nowhere and tells you he's fallen in love with you for no reason whatsoever."

"You do?"

"Well, I _am_ very beautiful," Yukimaru said, mockingly.

Setsuna rolled her eyes.

"Well, I think I'll wait before I form an opinion on him. He's very nice, and he seems completely sincere."

"I'd hope you would at least think that much. I think he's very cute, with the way he acts towards you. Don't tell him I said that, though. As far as he's concerned, I'm the disapproving older sister. I'd like for you to get a good guy, though, and he seems like one."

"Are you cheering him on?"

"Maybe. I'll wait to taste the cooking before I give my final verdict, though."

'Crap,' Setsuna thought to herself. 'If it relies on his cooking, she's going to try to get us married tonight, if she doesn't decide to try to take him herself.'

…

Xylek had been staying at the dojo for about a week, and Yukimaru was content to let him as long as he kept making the meals.

'My sister has no shame,' Setsuna thought to herself.

The money she had earned from that one mission had been enough to keep the dojo open for several months, and Yukimaru had been reduced to tears when Setsuna gave it to her.

"Isn't it like stealing, though, with Xylek being alive?" she had asked.

"Nope. The mission mentioned the Tethe'allan officer named Xylek. There is no longer an officer by that name in the employment of Tethe'alla."

"And you said Xylek was the smartass."

"His words, not mine."

"Well, who cares about the specifics!"

Setsuna was extremely happy she had been such a great help to her sister, but when she finally went back to her place of employment, upon walking in, she found herself face-to-face with several Sylvaranti soldiers.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"It seems that there has been a misunderstanding," the spymaster said. "There are rumors that Xylek is still alive, and has fled to Sylvarant. Specifically, he was supposedly seen around here."

"Who said this?" Setsuna asked.

"Well, rumors of a large male wearing black armor with blue hair have been circulating around a bit. It seems that Tethe'alla seems to think he's still alive, and they are offering a nice price for his head."

Laurence walked up to the group. "You know, that sounds a lot like that 'Zenryu' guy you brought back. He's big, and has blue hair. Didn't see the armor, but he seemed to be hiding something."

"Laurence, be quiet," she snapped. Her response startled her. It had been reflexive.

"They even say he's a half-elf. We don't need any of those around here, either. Disgusting filth."

Setsuna wasn't surprised when she herself turned and kicked him in the nose, breaking it. The spymaster quickly escorted the soldiers to his office, and closed the door. They didn't need to hear what would happen next.

"How is a half-elf anything like 'filth,' Laurence?" she asked, very angry.

"They just are!" He held onto his nose, which was bleeding quite a bit.

"And if one of your friends happened to actually be a half-elf?"

"I'd do him a favor and put him out of his misery."

She abruptly turned and walked out, but he followed.

"What the hell is your problem, Setsuna? I know his name isn't Zenryu. It's Xylek, isn't it?"

"Yes. What are you going to do about it?"

"I'll do what I have to. He's no good for you."

"Who're you to make that decision for me?"

"So you like him?"

"I didn't say that."

"Fine. Let me rephrase that. Do you like him?"

"What if I do?"

"Even if he's a half elf?"

"Would you like me even if I was a half-elf, Laurence? Or would you put me out of my misery, like an injured beast?"

"Wait, what the hell are you talking about?"

'That bastard, he's just like everyone else. He hates people for no reason. He couldn't have truly cared for me,' she thought to herself, feeling hurt.

"Answer the question." Setsuna jumped upon hearing that statement, as it wasn't her that had said it.

They both turned, and Xylek stood, uncloaked, with a deadly serious look on his face.

"Laurence, answer her question. I want to hear your answer." His carefree attitude was gone. This man looked like the one the rumors were about. The cold-blooded warrior he was said to actually be. She didn't find him to be scary though. Laurence, the one under his gaze, on the other hand…

"It doesn't matter. She's not-"

"You're dodging the question," Setsuna said, also irritated at how he was avoiding answering.

"I stand by my previous answer."

So he was willing to kill even her based on her blood.

"Now, let me ask you something, _Xylek_. Are you a half-elf?"

"Yes. She knew that from the start, though," he said, pointing to Setsuna.

Laurence looked at her, shocked. "You knew?"

"Yes, I knew. It's something he has in common with me."

The rest of the color drained from Laurence's face. It went from shocked to serious very quickly, though.

"I stand by my principles, and I will put my country first. Be gone, filth."

He drew his arbalest from his back and aimed it at Setsuna.

He pulled the trigger, firing the weapon at her from close range.

She closed her eyes, not being able to move out of the way in time. She heard a loud thud and the sound of the bolts sinking into flesh, but she felt no pain. She opened her eyes, and saw black armor in front of her.

"I knew you'd do that," Laurence said, stringing new bolts onto the arbalest.

"No you didn't. You fully intended for those to hit her," Xylek said. "You're just like everyone else, and you thought you were worthy enough to say that you liked her. The moment you heard she was a half-elf, I saw your emotions change in your face. That's the difference between you and me, I suppose."

"What are you talking about? Nobody else knows her secret, so I'll just kill you and take her."

"She's not something you can take. She's a person." Xylek seemed unsteady on his feet.

"Xylek, you're shot! We need to hurry up and get that taken care of!" Setsuna said, as she saw that there was blood slowly dripping on the ground in front of him.

"I'll be fine. He needs to hear what the difference is between love and the emotion he called love. He needs to hear it before I kill him."

"Fine, before you _kill_ me, let me hear your sappy little lecture on a _human_ emotion, you half-elf."

"Hehe," he said through a heavy cough, "I'll gladly tell you. You are a slave to your country. You would sacrifice her for your country's sake. The prejudice that runs rampant in this world is deeply ingrained into your character, too. That's not love. Love is being willing to forsake everything for her sake. I would willingly destroy this country, no, I would destroy everything for her sake, if I had to."

'He's willing to take on the world for me?' she thought to herself again. 'Why would someone do that?'

"Well, at least you get to die for her sake," Laurence said as he leveled the arbalest at Xylek's head. "Goodbye, then, Xylek."

"Goodbye, Laurence," Xylek held up his hand, and as the arbalest began to fire, there was change in the temperature of the air. The firing mechanism froze solid, and Laurence was shocked at the sudden use of magic. He was frozen in fear as Xylek materialized a spear of ice and stabbed him in the eye socket, ending his miserable life.

"Well, looks like you're safe now," Xylek said. He coughed and dropped to one knee. Setsuna now saw that he had two arbalest bolts stuck in his chest.

"I have a quick question, before I probably collapse," he said, and she was shocked to see he had a smile on his face again, despite the pain of his injuries. He coughed again, and a bit of blood came out. One of the bolts had most likely punctured his lung. He needed treatment soon.

"We need to get help. Yukimaru can treat this, I'm sure."

"No, I want to hear your answer. A serious one."

"What?"

"Laurence asked you if you liked me. I want to hear that answer."

"What if it's a no?"

"Is it a no?"

'What are you doing, you idiot?' she asked herself. Did she like him? She wasn't sure. But, when she thought about him dying from his injuries, it seemed to crush her. He seemed completely convicted in his emotions, but what did she feel? She knew one thing, though.

"…it isn't a 'no.'" Her words were barely audible.

"I can't quite hear you."

"I don't dislike you."

"That's not a very clear answer. My head's a little cloudy, so could you possibly clarify?"

'Okay, I'll just say the first thing that comes to mind when I think of him,' she thought to herself. He had jumped in front of her to save her life. He'd been constantly trying to cheer her up. She had tried to kill him, but he had only thought to save her. 'What do I feel towards him?' Her heart's answer was crystal clear.

"Fine, yes, dammit! I like you!"

She'd said it. Sure enough, put under enough stress, she had realized her own feelings, and blurted them out.

"Now let's get help before you go and die on me!"

"Yeah, I can't move. I'm probably going to pass out soon."

"What?" She noticed the pool of blood on the ground had gotten rather large.

He collapsed to the ground. His breathing was shallow. She had to do something. Yukimaru was too far away to help. Wait, hadn't they both been taught how to use healing magic? Of course, Yukimaru was always better at magic, too. Setsuna remembered the last time she tried using healing magic. It had managed to reduce a stubbed toe to a dull ache.

'Why am I always so useless,' she thought to herself. 'Why did he go and do something stupid like getting shot? Now, he probably believes I can save him. Why would he put his faith in me like that? Can I do it?'

She pulled on one of the bolts, and Xylek coughed. They needed to come out, though…

Setsuna quickly yanked them out, which caused a large bout of coughing. She placed her hands over the wounds and began chanting the healing magic. There was a flash of light from her hands, and Xylek let out another bit of coughing.

'It didn't work?' she thought to herself, as Xylek showed no signs of improving. 'Try again!' she told herself.

She did so, and the magical energy surged forth from her hands, entering his wounds, but this time Xylek stopped moving entirely.

"Xylek?" she said, wanting to see some sign he was still alive.

"Xylek. Stop screwing around." She was getting nervous. "We need to head back to my sister's so we can get ready to go. We aren't going to be able to stay here anymore without causing trouble. Come on."

He still didn't move.

"Xylek?" She began to panic. Had she been unable to save him? There wasn't anything else she could do. She shouted.

…

"Xylek!"

"What?"

Setsuna sat up and looked over, and saw Xylek lying next to her, with a confused look on his face.

"You okay?" he asked, and she remembered they were in Mizuho.

"I had a rather… nostalgic dream." She stared at her hands. It had been so vivid, like she was reliving her past.

"Oh really? What about?"

She saw the scars on his chest the arbalest had left, and ran her fingers over them.

"I see…" he said, seeing the way she looked at the scars. He reached over and took her hands in his. "Don't worry. Remember, you found out you were better than your sister at healing that day, too. She looked at these injuries and was shocked that I had been healed. It turned out your inferiority complex with your sister had been suppressing your talent. She was so proud of you."

It was true. That day was when Setsuna had finally felt that she had managed to step out from behind her sister's shadow.

"You know, it was a happy day for me, too, of course."

"What?" She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Why would that day be happy for him? He'd been impaled by two large steel spikes.

"That was the day I finally got you to say that you liked me. Even though it took me getting shot and almost dying…"

She punched him in the chest. He laughed and wrapped his arms around her.

"Jerk."

"Like I said, I'd fight the world for you. That day, I knew I could fight through hell for your sake."

She looked at him, still held tightly in his embrace.

"Yes, but remember the promise I made you make." She poked him on the nose.

"Promise? What promise?" The gem around his neck glowed red. He remembered, but she still felt like reminding him.

"I said you could fight the world for my sake, but only on the condition that you come back."

"Ah, that promise. Remember, I have a bad habit of not dying."

"Please don't kick that habit, then."

"Kicking is your area of expertise."

She elbowed him in the stomach, and they both drifted off to sleep together, smiling.

…

The next day, everyone was anxious. They were going to be flying to the Ginnungagap. They would have to confront Xegros one more time. This time, though, they weren't going to be exchanging greetings with him. No, they were going to destroy what was left of Xylek and Setsuna's friend. They were going to fight the embodiment of hatred and rage that had replaced the foolish idealist Xegros had once been. Not all of them may be able to come back from this fight, either.

**Xylek: Man, I write a lot for flashbacks. **

**Tiger: At this rate, your back-story will be longer than the normal story.**

**Xylek: What about this story is normal?**

**Tiger: I knew I should have used a word other than normal with him… **


	18. Chapter 18: Friends

**Chapter 18: Friends**

"Wake up, Lloyd!"

Lloyd jumped up and looked around to trying to figure out who was shouting at him. It was Raine.

"Jeez, what's the matter?" he said, groggily standing up and stretching.

"There's something that Xylek and Setsuna want to tell everyone and I've been trying to wake you up for the past half hour. I was about to have Genis come use his magic to get you up."

"Fine fine, I'll be there soon." Lloyd wondered what they had to say as he went about getting ready annoyed at having been woken up.

…

"So, with the way things have been, we feel it would be a good idea if everyone just took a day to relax. No thinking about Xegros, bad memories, anything. If everyone's mentally exhausted, it will increase the chance that someone will get severely injured, or make a poor choice," Xylek finished with a nod.

Everyone stared at him blankly.

"We can't just relax! Who knows what Xegros is up to right now? We don't have time to-" Lloyd started, but Setsuna interrupted him.

"If you can't release the tension before a fight, you'll make errors. Do you think it would be good for us to go confront him when we're all so on edge? If we can approach him calmly, our odds of success will go up dramatically. Remember, this Xegros is a warped monster of a man. His power is untested, so we have no idea what new things he's capable of doing. He was dangerous enough before getting possessed. We could _all_ use a chance to clear our minds."

Xylek hadn't seen it, but when she emphasized "all," she had motioned towards him. It wasn't that everyone there wasn't ready; it was because Xylek wasn't ready, and Setsuna could tell.

"I think it's a good idea," Regal said, placing his hand on his chin. "There are a few things I'd like to do before we travel to the Ginnungagap again."

"If you are so eager to fight, Lloyd, perhaps some sparring would work," Kratos said. "It's been a while since we've had a good round of practice together. I think I would… enjoy it." It was true. He hadn't sparred with Kratos in over two years.

"Perhaps there are also things people need to get off of their minds first, too?" Zelos said, looking at Sheena and then Lloyd. He received a dirty look from the ninja, and Lloyd didn't even notice the exchange. Everyone agreed that a day to gather their thoughts would be good. Having seen Xegros exhibiting such strength had unsettled many of them.

…

"Xylek!"

The warrior stopped what he was doing and turned around. He raised his eyebrow when he saw that Stacie was standing there, glaring at him.

"How may I be of assistance, ma'am?" he asked teasingly, bowing low.

"Actually… I'm here to apologize for slamming you into the ground the other day." She said this with a downturned face, embarrassed at her previous outburst.

"Haha, it's fine. I deserved it, considering what I had done to your crush."

She blushed at the mention of Regal.

"Of course you deserved it! You deserved more!"

"Correct."

"Especially considering what you did to _everyone_. How can a person do that to other people? That's just cold-hearted and mean!"

"Uh-huh."

"You- you're not supposed to keep agreeing with me!"

"There's not much else to do. What you say is true. Of course I feel bad about it now, and you bringing it up won't really change much. I've heard it all before, so if you keep talking about it, I'm going to ignore you."

She clenched her fist in irritation, but Xylek just turned around and went back to what he had been doing. She leaned around him, and to her surprise, he was sharpening and cleaning everyone's weapons.

"Does everyone know you raided their belongings to do this?" she inquired.

"No, but I'd rather you didn't say anything."

"I have no obligation to keep my mouth shut," she said mischievously.

"Okay, what if I gave you some advice about Regal, then?"

Her eyes opened wide for a second, but she quickly changed her expression.

"What could you know about Master Regal that I wouldn't? You've only been talking to him for a few days, while I have been in his service for many years!"

Xylek smirked. "You know, Regal most likely noticed your feelings for him long ago." Stacie lost her attitude and listened. "Though, since he is a gentleman, so long as you act like you don't want him to know, he will act like he doesn't. I don't know his feelings for you, but I doubt he'd string you along if he didn't care for you at all."

Sure enough, Stacie hadn't been aware. She thought that she had kept it hidden well enough.

"Was it that obvious?"

"You thought you were being subtle?"

She kicked him in the back, injuring her foot.

"You might want to treat that foot. You'll need it for Xegros."

"W-wait a second! I'm coming?"

"I only assumed so, since Regal was coming. I figured you would want to be there to help keep him from getting injured again. I won't be going out of my way to protect anyone; they'll have to take care of themselves."

"That's a bit cold of you." she remarked.

"I guess that's why I have such an affinity for ice. Perhaps you now have things to tend to, as well? And remember, you didn't see me with everyone's weapons."

"Fine… and thanks for the advice."

He just waved his hand in the air as she ran off to make preparations.

…

Sheena nodded as Setsuna walked into the room.

"I'll excuse myself," said the man that had been speaking to Sheena, who then stood and left.

"What was that about, I wonder?" Setsuna asked, looking behind her as she sat down where the man had been sitting.

"Oh, that was one of the village scouts. He reports that there is a large amount of unusual weather around the Ginnungagap."

"That's to be expected. I didn't ask Xylek how long it would take to open the seal, but Xegros shouldn't be able to do it quickly. We have some time, I'm sure."

"That's good to know," Sheena said with a sigh, relaxing a bit.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Setsuna asked, and Sheena jerked upright again.

"Oh, yes, the reason I called you here… umm, could you close the door? I don't want anyone to overhear."

Setsuna raised her eyebrow, but leaned over and closed the door to the room. "There, nobody will disturb us now, I'm sure."

Sheena wasn't sure where to start, but Setsuna, judging by her hesitance, took a stab in the dark.

"This isn't about Lloyd, is it?"

Sheena's face turned red. Setsuna smiled a bit. "Hmm…"

"W-wait! It's not that! I'm just... worried about him."

"Oh?"

"You two said we would need to be at the top of our game, mentally and physically. Physically, Lloyd will be fine. But, even at his best, mentally, he's kinda…"

"Hot-headed. Rash. A bit of a moron."

"Yes, but you don't have to be so blunt about it!" Sheena put her hand over her own mouth, as she had gotten louder than she had intended.

"No, those can be endearing traits if put in the right situation. Xylek's way of saying things can be very touching or just annoying. It depends on the situation. So, you're worried he's going to get himself hurt against Xegros?"

"Yeah. When we fought Xylek, Lloyd almost got himself killed. Xylek used some sort of sword technique that completely overpowered him, and if it weren't for the fact that Xylek was in a mentally unstable mood, I think he would have killed all of us."

"Unstable? Not quite. He's a bit more empathetic than most realize, and he saw your feelings for Lloyd. He saw how similar you looked to me, thought of his own situation, and he could no longer bring himself to harm any of you at that moment."

Sheena remembered her exact words she had yelled when she had thought Lloyd was about to die, and she would have been powerless to save him.

"I think you should just tell Lloyd your concerns. I'm sure he can occasionally show a bit of intelligence, so telling him to be careful might work."

"What if he asks why I'm so concerned?"

"You're good friends, right? Would you need any more reason that that?"

"I suppose you're right."

"If you need another reason, just tell him that his rashness could get someone else hurt too. That should get him to listen."

"Good point."

"Pardon me for a second, Sheena."

Setsuna stood, opened the door, and closed it behind her.

"Hey, wait a sec! I wasn't- AHHH!"

Setsuna came back in a few minutes later.

"Was that Zelos I heard?"

"Yes. He had tried to sneak in and listen through the walls. You should be more observant."

"Hey, I've got a lot on my mind right now!"

"My sister wouldn't care. If you are indeed from our bloodline, you should strive for perfection all the time, regardless of the situation."

"From Xylek's story, you didn't seem to be anywhere close to 'perfection,' Setsuna," Sheena snarked.

Setsuna coughed and blushed.

"Anyways, I doubt I'm actually related to you. I was adopted when I was found abandoned in the forest outside the village."

"I know. I considered everything, but I still have a feeling you're related. Who would abandon a child so close to the village that was supposedly hidden? Odds are, they were from the village, themselves. Even 4000 years later, you still show a bit of resemblance. My family always had strong genes."

"Well, thanks, I guess? What did you do to Zelos, exactly?"

"Dropped him down the well again," she said with a grin.

Both women laughed.

…

"Ouch!" Lloyd swung his swords in retaliation of the strike he had just received on the leg.

"You should work more on your defense." Kratos' blow had left a rather large red welt.

"My swordsmanship is fine. I just got a little sloppy!"

"And if these weren't wooden swords, your sloppiness would have cost you a leg."

Lloyd grunted and rushed Kratos, who deftly parried the flurry of sword blows. Lloyd had improved much during their separation, though, and Kratos was shoved back. He tried to push Lloyd back, but his attacks were knocked aside as Lloyd managed to land a blow on Kratos' arm.

"Ha!"

"Don't get cocky."

Lloyd was sent flying back from a kick to the chest.

"Hey, that's cheating!"

"I was unaware that I was limited to my sword for attacking. Xegros won't have such limits, either, and a strike on the arm will not be enough to prevent a counterattack. You must consider who your opponent is." Kratos' lecture gave Lloyd an idea.

The two resumed their sparring, and it slowly began to go in Kratos' favor again.

"Looks like you still have room to improve."

"I would have an awfully large ego if I ever thought that I _couldn't_ improve. I'm always striving to become stronger!"

Hearing these words made Kratos feel something akin to pride in his son, but Lloyd was relentless in his attack.

"I'm glad I got to come back and see you again. Though, it looks like Cruxis is now stuck here, for the time being."

"You wanted to leave?"

Lloyd stopped attacking and stood back.

"I didn't say that. I just have to take responsibility for the things I've done. The things Cruxis has done."

"Well, you could just stick around and help protect this world. It seems that the urge to do so runs in my blood, at least."

Kratos smiled.

"Thanks, Lloyd. I'm glad to hear you say that."

Lloyd readied his weapons again and rushed forward.

"No problem… Dad!"

Kratos flinched at the use of "dad," since he wasn't used to being called that, and Lloyd knocked him to the ground with his rush.

"I remembered who my opponent was, so I acted appropriately," Lloyd gloated as Kratos rose to his feet and brushed himself off.

"I see. Perhaps I'll show you some 'tough love' then."

"You can try!"

The two charged each other, grinning.

…

"Ratatosk is worried…"

Emil was talking to Raine and Marta.

"What about?" Raine asked, curious.

"When I spoke to him earlier, he said that Xylek's seal, as strong as it was, would be rather easy to open."

"But it took so much mana to make!" Marta said, shocked.

"Yeah, he said it has nothing to do with the strength of the seal, but the structure. It's made more like a door than a wall."

"I see! That would make it very difficult to destroy, but…" Raine began talking to herself.

"How would that make it hard to destroy?" Emil asked.

"Well, instead of being destroyed to open the path between worlds, it would simply open instead, remaining intact. It would mean that, so long as there is someone who can fight to the seal, they can just close it again instead of having to remake a new seal. So, Xylek made it with the intent that it could be opened? I wonder why…"

Emil and Marta were slightly confused, but they got the gist of what she had said.

"I wonder what Niflheim looks like. I bet it's scary! Oh, I'm getting frightened just thinking about it! Emil, hold me!"

"Don't worry. I said I'll always protect you. Remember, I'm your knight."

"That sounded so manly!"

Emil sighed as Marta glomped him.

…

Everyone was much happier as they sat down for dinner. Regal was ecstatic that he had been voted to be the chef, much to Xylek's dismay. Stacie had counted the ballots, and it was overwhelmingly in Regal's favor. Everyone knew why, but Regal seemed so happy about it they let it slide.

"Oh well, that means I get to just sit here and relax instead of worrying about which spices to use!" Xylek leaned back with a smirk.

"Hey, just because Stacie fixed the votes doesn't mean you won," Zelos said.

Everyone had gotten used to him without his armor, but considering the fact that his clothes were actually his armor in a different form, it still got raised eyebrows.

"So, why don't you ever change your clothes?" Genis asked.

"I do. I change them from armor to casual attire to pajamas. What about everyone else? All I ever see is you all wearing the same things. Mine have special powers. What's everyone else's excuse?"

Everyone looked at him like they didn't know what he was talking about.

"Dinner is served!" Stacie yelled as the food was brought in. Regal walked in and sat down, seemingly tired from cooking. Everyone's mouths were watering as they stared at the food before them.

"I do believe I have been outdone," Xylek said, looking at his plate and probing the food, attempting to discern how it was made.

"Stop playing with it and just eat!" Setsuna said, smacking her husband in the back of the head.

Everyone laughed as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Setsuna, be careful or you'll give your lover brain damage," Sheena remarked with a grin.

"Oh, is that what happened to Lloyd?" she retorted.

Sheena blushed, and Zelos began laughing.

"I don't get what's so funny. Do you, Lloyd?" Colette asked.

"Nope. Not really."

There were several sighs as everyone began eating again.

…

"Well, that was a good meal. Everyone seemed to be in a better mood, at least."

Xylek said this, staring into the night sky. Setsuna, who was sitting next to him, poked him in the side of the head to get his attention.

"If you ask me, it sounded like they consider you a friend now."

"Friends, eh? Never had many of those…"

"I know. You don't really open up to people like that, either. Maybe that's why."

"Probably. You know, people don't tend to almost kill their friends," he said with a sigh.

"Stop beating yourself up about that. It's over. Nobody died."

"Yes, but friends protect each other. I can't let them go fight Xegros, knowing full well that not everyone may come back alive…"

"They're strong. They'll survive." She put her hand on his arm.

"I don't know. This feels like more of our problem than theirs, though. I don't want them to be put in danger. Xegros was our friend. We have to protect him, too. Even if it means protecting him from himself. He would never do the things he's planning on doing."

"I suppose you're right," Setsuna said quietly.

Xylek grabbed her arm and pulled her close, hugging her tightly.

"Hey, are you saying we can't beat his ass by ourselves?"

"One of us could get seriously injured or-"

"Or what? I'd fight anyone and everyone to protect you, and, like I promised, I'll always come back. That doesn't leave much room for an 'or,' does it?"

She smiled and returned the embrace, though she was still uneasy.

"Now, we're already prepared to go," he said, materializing his armor and sword. She did the same. "I just have to do something before we leave." Xylek wandered off to enact his plan.

…

"Guys, we have a problem! A BIG one!"

Genis' frantic yelling brought everyone to where he was.

"What happened to the Rheairds?" Emil asked, looking at the flying machines.

"They've all been severely damaged. None of them can fly," Regal said after examining them.

"Xylek and Setsuna are gone, too!" Sheena said, running to the group. "Some of my scouts said they saw them approaching the Ginnungagap.

"Hey, where are Celsius and Efreet?" Colette asked.

"Eh?"

Nobody had noticed that the summon spirits were also missing.

"Dammit! We need to go after them!" Lloyd said, running to get his stuff.

"We won't be able to catch up. They've gotten too much of a head start," Raine said,

"We can still help them! If they lose, who knows what Xegros will be able to do!" Genis said, having already gotten his things.

"It's fine. We can still make good time. I've already arranged for a very fast ship called a skimmer. It will be able to take us to the Otherworldly Gate from the coast," Stacie said.

"Alright. We need to catch up!"

Everyone ran about, getting ready to chase down Xylek and Setsuna, who had gone ahead, alone.

**Xylek: I wonder how close to the end of the story we're getting…**

**Tiger: One thing we can learn from Symphonia, it's not over until the credits play.**


	19. Chapter 19: Broken

**Chapter 19: Broken**

Raine leaned over the edge of the boat and hurled. "These waves are really unusual," Regal said, having been sailing over a lot of the world over the years.

"Yeah, and the weather looks really bad," commented Lloyd.

"Just hang on a little longer, we'll be there soon," Genis said to his sister as her face once again turned green.

The heroes were swiftly approaching the Otherworldly Gate, the location of the entrance to the Ginnungagap. They were forced to use a boat when their method of flight was destroyed by Xylek before he and Setsuna went ahead alone. The sky was black with clouds, and it had begun to rain. A large flash of lightning startled everyone, as it illuminated the island ahead of them.

"There it is! We've made it!" shouted Emil.

Everyone shivered, as a chilling breeze blew through the air. The rain turned to snow and ice, and nobody had prepared for such weather.

"W-w-w-what's g-g-going on?" Marta said through chattering teeth. Emil grabbed her and held her close for warmth. Everyone grouped together, and Genis created a small fireball to attempt to warm everyone up. The wind was getting stronger, too.

"It must be Xylek's power clashing with Xegros' power," said Raine.

"How so, Professor?" Colette asked.

"Well, when cold air meets warm air, it can cause large storms. If Xylek's power of ice clashed with Xegros' fire, it would be very similar."

"Yes, but why hasn't this happened before?" Sheena asked, warming her hands near the fire that floated in midair.

"That's because they were both keeping restraint on their power," Kratos answered nonchalantly. Everyone looked at him, surprised.

"Didn't we tell you that they had to hold back or risk destroying entire areas?" Yuan asked, trying to remember if he had mentioned it.

"I think we shouldn't worry about that at the moment. There are more pressing issues that have developed."

Everyone looked up to see what Presea had been talking about, and they noticed the rather large tornado beginning to descend from the clouds overhead.

"That's bad," Stacie said, running to alert the boat's driver.

"I'll handle this," Sheena said resolutely. "I summon thee, Sylph!"

The three summon spirits of air materialized before everyone.

"Oh, hi everyone!" one of them said, but the other two immediately noticed the large cyclone.

"This is bad. Where are Celsius and Efreet? This is the result of their power out of control. We can handle this, but why aren't those two doing their jobs? We'll have to talk to Origin about them slacking off."

The spirits held up their hands, and a second tornado formed, except this one glowed with magic. It pulled in the clouds around the island, clearing the skies, and then it vanished. Everyone was impressed by how easily the massive storm had been handled.

"Wait a second, it's not Efreet's or Celsius's fault!" Lloyd yelled at the Sylph.

"Can someone explain why, then?"

Sheena told them the story.

"Stolen? Impossible! Summon Spirits are the embodiment of their element! Without it, they wouldn't exist!"

"So are you saying that you are all only the embodiment of wind, and without that, you'd be nothing? I'd say, amongst the summon spirits, you three have the most distinct personalities," Lloyd said, making the Sylph stop and think.

"Well, we've always had this power. It's unheard of for a summon spirit to have their power stolen. We must inform Origin of this at once. Call on us again if you need our help!"

The spirits vanished, and everyone was glad that the skies were now clear.

"Come on, we need to get there faster! I don't think Raine can handle much more of this," Genis said, as his sister had run to the side of the ship again.

"When we get to the island, I'll go check on the seal. Everyone else can do as they please," Richter said.

"We'll help, too," Emil and Marta said. "Just in case."

Richter nodded.

Everyone flinched when a giant wave of heat hit them in the face, coming from the island.

"What in the-"

A giant column of flame erupted from the center of the island, and it expanded outwards, consuming the entirety of the small piece of land.

"Oh no!" Colette said, seeing that there was no way that anything on the island could have avoided it.

"Wait a second," Kratos said, and everyone was shocked when the flames seemed to be cut in half by a large beam of light.

"I wonder if we should just wait here…" Genis said, scared of the amount of power he was seeing.

"We must help our friends," Presea said.

"I agree. Everyone get ready! We're going to help Xylek and Setsuna stop Xegros!" Lloyd yelled. Everyone nodded in agreement.

…

The giant flames were blasted away by the beam of light, and Xylek and Setsuna stood, mostly unharmed, opposing Xegros. Xegros was no longer the person he once was. The demons had not only warped his mind, but his body too. He was now a monstrosity of a man, standing well over 3 meters tall. His armor now had various jagged spikes protruding from it in various places, and his sword was now a massive slab of sharpened metal, covered in red runes.

"Heh, I'm surprised you two have lasted this long," Xegros said in a deep, distorted voice.

"If you're surprised by that, then that means you're underestimating us," Xylek retorted.

"I don't think so."

Xegros swung his sword, and a giant wave of flame burst forth. Xylek charged forward, Setsuna directly behind, and he held up his hand. A blast of ice created an opening in the fire. Xylek clashed directly with Xegros' blade, and Setsuna leapt over him, aiming at Xegros' head. Unfortunately, her sword glanced off of his helm, and with a roar, he sent both her and Xylek flying backwards.

"This is ridiculous," Setsuna said. "How are we going to be able to beat him if we can't even break his armor?"

Xegros began walking forward, scorching the earth beneath his feet.

"Hold on, I have an idea. It's going to get a _lot_ colder, though."

"I can handle it."

The runes on Xylek's armor glowed, and the air suddenly lost all of its heat. Ice formed on the ground, and Xegros' armor, even.

"Now, go!"

Setsuna charged, with Xylek focusing his power on Xegros. The flaming warrior attempted to move to block the incoming attack, but he was unable to do so.

"Come now, you're immobilized by just this much ice? Where's all that fire you've been throwing around?"

"Ha, it's right here." Xegros' armor pulsed.

"Too slow," Setsuna said as she slashed at his arm. The armor, brittle from being so cold, shattered from the force of the blow, and her sword passed through, severing his sword arm just above the elbow. Xegros roared in pain as his limb fell to the ground. The flames from his spell erupted, throwing Setsuna back, but Xylek caught her before she hit the ground.

"That worked well," Xylek said, setting her down and staring as his former friend grabbed at his arm where it was bleeding profusely.

"Let's put him out of his misery," Setsuna said, and she cracked her neck.

"That's not very feminine."

"Shut up."

"Yes, dear."

Xegros had stopped roaring in pain, and he had begun laughing.

"Okay, the joke's over," he said as he held his severed arm.

He placed it where it had been, and the armor itself seemed to mend together as the arm re-attached itself. He flexed his elbow, and then picked his sword up from the ground.

"That's… slightly problematic," Xylek said, taking a step back.

"Your observation is slightly less than helpful," replied Setsuna.

"This is going to take a while…" Xylek sighed.

"How about if we help?" Lloyd asked, as he and the rest of the group arrived.

"You! Why are you here?" Xylek shouted in surprise.

"You broke my rheairds," Yuan said. "I expect full compensation, you know."

"Did you really think that would be enough to keep us from coming here to help?" Genis asked.

"You are aware that because of your little trick, I had to ride in a boat, right?" Raine said, a vein pulsing on her forehead.

It seemed that everyone was rather irritated, and Xylek wasn't sure who was scarier, them or Xegros.

"See? I told you they'd come anyways. Whether you like it or not, it seems that they're officially friends," Setsuna said.

"Aww, how touching," Xegros said, rubbing his hands together. "Thank you for coming. It'll make it that much easier to eliminate you all, now."

Everyone was shocked at the sight of Xegros, and the severity of his mutation.

"What the hell is that?" Sheena asked, startled.

"It seems that he's been warped by the demons even more than before, both in body and mind," Kratos observed, drawing his blade.

"Richter, Emil, Marta, be ready to go," Lloyd said. The other three nodded. There was a foul energy coming from the entrance to the Ginnungagap which floated above their heads.

"Alright everyone, let's go!"

"I have a place you can go," Xegros said, and the ground underneath them glowed red. Xylek leapt through the air, slamming his fist into the ground where it was glowing. The glow dispersed to the edge of the island, and a blast of flame erupted from the edges.

"Aww, you ruined it," Xegros said, hefting his blade at the heroes.

"So?" Setsuna said from right next to his head, and he flinched when he knew he couldn't react in time to stop the oncoming attack.

"Ray!"

A giant sphere of light appeared, and it blasted Xegros with a barrage of beams. He was sent flying, and Emil, Marta, and Richter used that opportunity to enter the Ginnungagap. "I'll go with them. That aura of energy worries me," Yuan added as he followed the three.

Xegros stood, brushing himself off. He spat on the ground, and the spit had traces of blood in it.

"That hurt," he said, and he took an aggressive stance, about to charge.

"That was the point," retorted Lloyd as he and everyone else also took readied stances.

"Watch out for his flames. He's a bit more adept at using them, and they're hard to dodge," Xylek added.

Both sides rushed each other. Regal leapt into the air, so Xegros attempted to single him out. He began to swing his sword, but downward strikes from both Stacie and Presea aimed at his blade made him miss. Regal descended with a mighty kick, but it wasn't enough to even stagger the warrior, even as the blow landed squarely in his chest.

"That tickled," he said, swinging his other hand, forcing them back. Xegros' smirk faded when he noticed that there was the appearance of angel feathers in the air. Beams of light rained down as Colette cast Judgment. Several of them crashed into Xegros, knocking him off balance. Zelos leapt into the air, and after landing squarely on Xegros' head, he attempted to stab him in the eye. Xegros batted him away with his hand, but he noticed a large amount of spell tags now attached to his hand. They all promptly detonated.

"Nice, Sheena," Zelos complemented the ninja who had taken advantage of the distraction.

"Don't stop the attack," Kratos said, working his way under Xegros' blade and slashing at his legs. Lloyd flew the air with a Tempest attack, and he slashed the side of Xegros' face as he made contact. Both jumped back as Genis' and Raine's Prism Stars spell assaulted the flame warrior, sending him flying. As he landed, he looked straight up. Setsuna was above him, and she pointed her hand downward. A giant beam of light fired from her hand, slamming Xegros in the chest, driving him into the ground.

"ENOUGH!" he yelled, and there was a massive shockwave of flame that sent everyone flying backwards. "I've had enough of you annoying insects trying to stop me. As your friends in the Ginnungagap will soon find out, the seal is already open, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"You didn't look very well at the seal, then. And anyways, being open won't end the world as we know it. Especially if you opened it wrong," Xylek said with a grin. "I wonder how much longer you'll last, though. You're getting weaker. And, if you are supposedly powerful enough to be able to maintain control of Niflheim's citizens, then if we eliminate you, what would be able to stop _us?_"

Xegros glared as the heroes gathered together again.

"Shall we have another go, then?" Kratos said, grinning a little himself. This was a truly exciting battle, and he was beginning to enjoy it.

"Let's finish him this time," Lloyd said, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"Who will finish who?" Xegros said, raising his hand. Mana began to spiral around, forming a sphere of black flames in his palm. The air became distorted from the heat, and everyone stepped back from the massive amount of power he was gathering for his spell.

"Ha, nice trick, but you're still an amateur," Xylek said, also taking a similar stance. A large sphere of ice energy began forming in his own hand.

"Alright, Xylek will give us an opening, and we'll need to take it," Setsuna said, her blade beginning to glow with light.

Both swordsmen fired their magic at the others, and when the beams collided, the entire island shook.

"GO!" Xylek yelled, his sword beginning to glow. Everyone else charged forward, avoiding the clashing beams of magic. Xegros began to swing his sword, but he was smashed in the face by a giant chunk of ice. Xylek was forming massive blocks of ice in the air and dropping them with his free hand, but it was all Xegros could do to prevent the beam of ice from overpowering his own black flames.

Presea leapt through the air with a flip, building momentum, and her axe slammed downwards on Xegros' extended arm, breaking through the armor and partially cutting into his arm. He yelled out in pain, but the pain was intensified as Stacie descended, kicking the back of the axe head, forcing it all the way through. The beams of frost and fire vanished as Xegros' arm fell to the ground, yet again. Xylek continued dropping chunks of ice on their adversary, though.

"That won't be enough!" Setsuna yelled, running under Xegros and stabbing him behind the knee, forcing him to the ground. Everyone was now very close to Xegros, looking for the best place to make their attacks. Kratos stabbed him just under one of his ribs, while Regal kicked him squarely on top of the head, dazing him. Sheena started to attack his face, but she noticed something. He wasn't gritting his teeth with pain; he was _smiling_.

"Everyone, get back!" she yelled, but Lloyd ignored the warning and leapt into the air, attempting to deliver what he had hoped would be a finishing blow. There was a massive blast of heat and flames, and everyone was knocked back. Lloyd had leapt over it, though, and descended with his most powerful technique. "Divine Justice!"

Xegros raised his massive blade and easily blocked the blow, his other arm re-attaching itself. Lloyd was open to any attack Xegros could think of.

"Damn it!" Setsuna said, leaping into the air and kicking Lloyd in the chest, sending him flying back, away from Xegros. Xegros, on the other hand, grabbed her leg and slammed her into the ground. He raised his massive sword into the air, and had a twisted, demented grin on his face. She stood, but Xegros swung his blade, looking to cut her in half at the waist. Her shoulder was dislocated, and she wasn't going to be able to block the blow.

"Setsuna!" Lloyd yelled, knowing she had saved his life.

Xylek was somehow between Setsuna and Xegros' blade. He used all of his strength to block the slash, but Xegros had also swung with everything he had. As their swords met, there was a massive cracking sound as Xylek's blade shattered in his hand, and Xegros' swing continued, striking him in the chest, sending him and Setsuna flying.

Everyone was silent with shock. The fragments of Xylek's sword flew in all directions, as did fragments of his armor, which had broken like his sword. He and Setsuna landed with a dull "thud," and Xegros seemed overcome with maniacal laughter.

…

Setsuna was dazed, and she opened her eyes, wondering what was on top of her. She saw the back of Xylek's head, his helm having flown off when they had landed. He wasn't making any effort to move. She looked down at her hand, and saw blood. She knew she wasn't bleeding, so the shock hit her instantly.

She had lost her focus from being slammed into the ground, so she hadn't quite realized what had happened yet. She quickly moved out from under Xylek, and relocated her shoulder. She looked over her husband, and her hand covered her mouth when she saw the massive wound in his chest. His armor had a huge rend in it, and he was bleeding profusely.

She immediately grabbed his face, trying to get him to react. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at her.

"What the hell did you do?" she said, looking at him with a mix of fear and frustration.

"Hehe, I just did my job… as your bodyguard."

"Give me a second, I'll use healing magic," she said, trying to remember the chant for her best healing spells. The words escaped her as a mentality of panic had begun to set in. She smacked her own face to calm herself down, and she quickly began channeling the magic into his chest injury.

"Is- is it helping?" she asked, wanting desperately to know he'd be okay.

Xylek winced as he answered. "Y-yeah. Feeling better already."

The gem which hung around his neck glowed red. Setsuna saw, and knew he was lying.

"Why isn't it working? Dammit, why isn't it working!" she yelled, and her healing magic surged from her hands. Xylek's injury showed no sign of healing, but the bleeding had become slower.

"See, look. It's not bleeding quite as badly…" he tried to say, but his voice was weak. She put her hand to his chest, and could barely feel a heartbeat. She looked at the ground, and saw the massive pool of blood that had formed. That was a lethal amount of blood loss, and she knew it. She grabbed his face in her hands, and looked at him.

"You have to keep your promise. I said you could protect me, so long as you came back. You- you are NOT allowed to break that promise, you hear me? Don't you dare leave me here alone. Xylek!"

He coughed weakly, and tried to grin. "You failed to mention how long… I would have before having to come back… or where I should return to… We never did find a house, by the way…"

She smiled weakly at his attempt at a joke.

"You're not very funny," she said, referring to the situation.

"That hurts my feelings," he said, still trying to get Setsuna to lose the look she had on her face. He didn't see her in pain. He tried to lift his hand to her face, but couldn't find the strength to move his arm.

"Damn… can't even wipe away your tears… Tell you what… I'll meet you in…" his voice faded, and his eyes slowly closed. The color drained from Setsuna's face, tears streaming down her cheeks, and the only sounds on the small island were the crashing of waves and Xegros' uncontrolled laughter.

**Xylek: …**

**Tiger: …**


	20. Chapter 20: No Restraint, No Mercy

**Chapter 20: No Restraint, No Mercy**

"What's wrong, Setsuna? He's gone, and it's all your fault," Xegros taunted with a twisted smile as Setsuna leaned over her husband's lifeless body. Everyone gazed on in shock unable to believe that Xegros had managed to kill Xylek in a single, overpowering blow that had been aimed at Setsuna. Xegros' laughter at the situation had seemed hollow. Perhaps there was something of his old self still buried below. He _had_ been good friends with both Xylek and Setsuna in the past, before he had gone mad with his insatiable lust for power.

Setsuna placed her forehead on Xylek's, whispered something, and stood. She grabbed her helm from the ground in one hand, and held her sword in the other. Her hair obscured her face, but tears were no longer dripping from her chin. Not a muscle twitched on her stony expression.

"Oh, are we mad now? What are you going to do, eh? You and your little rabble of heroes are no match for me with Xylek gone. What a useless sacrifice." His mocking was grating on everyone's nerves, but Setsuna didn't react. She just stood there, face downturned. The air had become noticeably cold, and the sky had begun to darken again with clouds.

"Oh, looks like Xylek's not done yet, eh? What's this weather supposed to do, give me a cold?" Xegros said, eyeing the unusual clouds.

"… up" Setsuna said, barely above a whisper.

"I didn't quite catch that. Speak up. I want to hear your last words."

Her breathing hastened, her emotions colliding throughout her, demanding that action be taken. The temperature continued dropping and a light snow fell upon the battlefield.

"I… said… SHUT THE HELL UP!" she yelled, her armor crackling with light pulsing across it. Her helm began coursing with light, and she hurled it at Xegros' face. The intensity of the light was so much that Xegros couldn't even look at it, and with Setsuna's perfect aim, it collided and then exploded in his face.

The blast dazed him, and he couldn't see through the bright flash, giving Setsuna the chance to leap above him. She descended with a perfectly aimed kick, hitting him squarely on his head. He tried to reach up to grab her, but she wasn't there.

"What the…" was all he said, as she had seemingly disappeared. He gazed around for a brief second. He knew where she was when the sword stabbed him in the shoulder, near his neck. He roared as swiped at her, but yet again she wasn't there.

"What's going on?" Genis asked, as Xegros seemed to be swinging his arms around like a mad man, trying to kill thin air.

"Setsuna's moving… fast," Kratos said, straining his angelic sight to see her as she assaulted Xegros. Nobody could see her for more than a split second before she vanished from view again.

"How is she so fast?" Lloyd asked, shocked that something could move like that.

"Her element is the element of light, the fastest thing in existence," Raine said. "Nothing travels faster than light."

"Why didn't she do that before?" Sheena asked. "She could have easily avoided the attack that Xylek had blocked."

"Doing this for a long time will damage her body. People weren't made to move this fast, and her body won't be able to handle the concentration of light energy for long without serious consequences" Kratos said. "Xylek most likely forbid her from doing this for her own safety. She's gone berserk, so now there's nobody here that can stop her."

They all had felt the massive killing intent she had expressed just before vanishing. There wasn't an adjective appropriate enough to express her anger. Everyone ducked as a massive explosion of flame went over their heads.

"Damn pest, hold still!" Xegros' fire hadn't hit her, even though he had spread it over as much area as he could. He could regenerate injuries, but it still tired him out. She had stabbed him several times a second for over a minute now, and the pain was no longer able to be ignored. He finally saw her, but she was directly in front of his face. He didn't even have time to blink as the sword plunged into his eye. His head snapped back reflexively, saving his life, but Setsuna was still there in front of him. He started to swing his sword at her, but his hand fell off at the wrist. He blinked his remaining eye, as he hadn't noticed that she had severed it.

He looked back up at her, and she seemed to be floating in the air. He saw her face. He looked into her eyes. And then he immediately regretted it. Upon looking into her eyes, he felt a twinge in his gut. He had felt fear. Her icy blue eyes seethed with hatred; pure, unrestrained hatred. She held up one hand, and a ball of light formed. It continued to grow into a massive sphere, which she held over her head. Everyone else ducked as she threw it at Xegros.

The massive explosion of light sent him flying. He landed on his back, and as he tried to stand, he noticed he was now lacking a leg, severed below the knee. It still stood where he had been before he was sent flying. This disturbed him, as his sword and one of his hands were also over there, near his opponent. He hadn't known that Setsuna was this powerful. He had thought Xylek to be the stronger of the two. Perhaps being enraged had amplified her powers to this extent? He didn't know, and he didn't care, as Setsuna pointed her hand at his severed leg and hand, and a giant column of light pierced the clouds and vaporized them, leaving only his sword.

Xegros' eye opened wide; he could re-attach limbs, but not grow them back entirely. He knew he was in very big trouble now. Setsuna vanished, but didn't at the same time. As Xegros looked around, he was surrounded by not one or two, but seven Setsunas. They all seemed to flicker, as if they weren't really there. He fired a fireball at one, and it passed through harmlessly.

"Illusions won't help you," he said.

She was silent, and each of the "illusions" pointed their swords at him. Massive beams of light fired from the tip of each sword, and slammed into Xegros. Each one was completely real. An eighth Setsuna, the real one, was directly over him, her sword pointed down, and a giant beam of light fired from it, blasting him into the ground, and scorching him with energy. He cried out in pain as the light seared his exposed skin, and it began to make his armor crumble. He was losing. It wasn't even a fight anymore; it was an execution.

Xegros lifted himself from the ground, and began trying to crawl away from his tormenter, who slowly walked behind him. The slow, calmness of her steps made him fear her even more. He looked over his shoulder as he grasped at the ground with his remaining hand, pulling himself along. He winced as he felt a sharp stab in his hand, and he looked up. A shard of black metal was protruding from his palm. He looked, and saw it was a shard of Xylek's sword. Furiously, he tried to shake it out, but he couldn't get it to dislodge. He looked at the sky, and saw the blackness in the clouds. He felt the cold of the air sting his scorched skin, and the coldness only seemed to sharpen his pain, as compared to numbing it. He stopped crawling. He knew he was finished.

Setsuna slowly walked around to Xegros' head and flipped him onto his back. He was breathing heavily from the pain. Everyone else simply watched, too shocked at how easily she had overwhelmed him, crushed him, and reduced him to nothing but a shivering, frightened, and helpless mass. They were no longer sure which of the two was demon-possessed. She glared at him, and drove her sword into his arm, pinning it to the ground. She stood over his head, and removed his helm.

"Gloating? Isn't that something the villain does?" he said weakly. She said nothing. "Still not going to say-" his question was cut off short as she kicked him in the chin with enough force to dislocate his jaw, and crack most of his teeth. She raised her foot and kicked him in the face repeatedly. She said nothing, but her eyes were wide with rage. This continued for at least a minute. She then pulled her sword from his arm, and pointed it at his throat. It shook in her hand, which was quivering with rage.

Xegros smiled at her through broken teeth. His dark, glowing red eyes showed that he had one last plan left. "Fire is always good at exploding, and I no longer need to save myself. I'm going to remove this island from the map. On the bright side, for you at least, you'll be with your beloved in the afterlife."

She had raised her sword, to finish him, but his last statement had stopped her. Perhaps it would be okay to just die now, her revenge complete. He began to glow bright red, building all of the power of fire he had into one explosion. There was a flash of blue from his hand, and he looked over and saw what was happening. The shard of Xylek's sword was siphoning the power of fire from him at a rapid pace. Setsuna looked, and was hit with realization. It really would have been a senseless sacrifice if she allowed herself to be killed. She plunged the sword into Xegros' throat. His eye opened wide, and as it returned to its natural color, the shard finished taking the power back. He exhaled one last time, and was dead.

"You deserved to die like this; cold, alone, and in pain. You betrayed your friends, yourself, and the rest of existence," she said as she pulled her blade from the dead warrior's neck.

Lloyd walked over to Setsuna, along with everyone else. She looked exhausted.

"Setsuna, I'm… I'm sorry he's gone," Lloyd said, but as he began to try to put his hand on her shoulder, she turned and slashed at him, forcing him to jump back.

"Hey, what are you doing? He's dead! It's us, your friends!" Stacie said, surprised.

"I know it's hard for you to accept, but Xylek's not-" Lloyd started again, but Setsuna interrupted him.

"I've been replaying that moment in my head. Over and over, I think of what could have been done differently. I realized something, then. If you hadn't attacked like a fool, then I wouldn't have had to save you. If I hadn't saved you, then Xylek wouldn't have had to save me. If he hadn't…"

"Lloyd, get back!" Kratos yelled, jumping in front of him, sword drawn. Setsuna slashed, and Kratos parried the attack.

"MOVE!" she yelled, and Kratos was sent flying by a blast of light. "Lloyd Irving! It is YOUR fault that he's dead, not mine!" She was walking towards them, eyes fixated on Lloyd entirely.

"I know I was stupid, but I'm sorry! Truly, deeply sor-"

"Save your apologies! Don't worry, I won't make you suffer like Xegros; it will be quick, but I don't guarantee painless. You must pay for your crime. Now, Lloyd, die!"

Setsuna rushed at the group.

**Xylek: I'm scared. And dead, it seems. I would like a word with the author about this…**

**Tiger: And this is a good example of why making women angry is a bad idea.**


	21. Chapter 21: Summoners and Spirits

**Chapter 21: Summoners and Spirits**

Everyone jumped back as Setsuna slashed wide. Even after killing Xegros, her anger had failed to subside, and now her wrath spilled out onto the heroes, Lloyd especially. They had tried forming a circle around her, though this didn't do much to stop her rampage. The wind tore though the air, and with the heavy snowfall, the heroes couldn't see, and the snow and ice on the ground made it nearly impossible to stand. Setsuna looked around herself quickly, saw Lloyd, and leapt at him. Sheena jumped in and kicked her aside, where she landed hard on the ground.

"Setsuna, get a hold of yourself!" she yelled over the wind. "We don't want to fight you!"

Setsuna slowly rose from the snow, and, ignoring Sheena's plea, charged at Lloyd again. Regal and Presea intervened this time, and blocked her attack throwing her back again. She didn't seem to be thinking straight.

Lloyd stepped forward, and held up his hand when everyone went to help him. He was going to face her alone. She rose and ran at him again, sword in hand. She desperately slashed, but Lloyd blocked the attack, and noticed there was very little strength behind it. She didn't have the strength to fight him, let alone everyone else. He threw her back, and she landed on the ground again. She lay there, breathing heavily, staring into the dark sky. She tried to stand, but collapsed to her knees. She hunched over, hands on the ground, and began coughing. Her shoulders shuddered as she had begun crying again, and she punched the ground in frustration.

"She's hurt badly," Raine said, everyone having sheathed their weapons. "She's most likely torn a lot of her muscles, and I doubt her organs would be unaffected from moving that fast."

"Well, heal her then," Lloyd said, and everyone looked at him.

"No."

Raine's response made him furrow his eyebrows.

"She needs help! Heal her, professor!" He said, agitated.

"She's irrational right now. If I heal her, she _will_ try to kill you. I'm not going to heal her."

The snow had abruptly stopped. Everyone looked into the sky, and saw that the clouds were even darker, almost black. The unusual weather was making the group uneasy. Setsuna had become calmer, and sat with a blank look on her face, as she just stared at her hand. Her sword lay discarded to the side, where she had thrown it in frustration.

Suddenly, a giant plume of fire erupted from where Xegros' body lay.

"What in the-" Zelos said, and everyone jumped. Setsuna just looked over and scowled.

"Heh, that would be Efreet's power going out of control," she said not moving from her spot on the ground. "Somehow, the shard of Xylek's sword had managed to absorb it temporarily, but since it's only a shard, it couldn't contain it forever. Much like this weather, which I guess is the result of Celsius' power being released; Efreet's power will now go out of control, if it remains unchecked."

"Are you sane again?" Kratos asked, still sore from being blasted away by her.

"Sanity is overrated. I'm not going to try and kill Lloyd, if that's what you mean."

Lloyd started to say something, but he was cut off.

"Do not speak to me! It is still your fault, and if I hear any of your crap about being sorry, I might attack you. Understand?" Lloyd wilted under the fury of her glare, and nodded in response.

The wind had died down, now, but the fire was getting larger, and much, much hotter. It seemed to erupt again, and a large ball of flame was launched into the air. It arced towards Setsuna, who couldn't move.

"Watch out!" Sheena yelled, but it was too late. The ball of fire hit where she sat, and exploded.

As the smoke cleared, they saw a small dome of ice had formed, and had blocked the fireball. This confused everyone, as nobody had cast that magic.

"How did that thing form?" Stacie asked, bewildered.

"That's not the issue, look," Regal said, pointing at the origin of the fire ball. It had become a spiraling column of flames, and the wind had picked up again. When the first massive chunk of ice landed near the inferno, everyone looked up. Huge blocks of ice were falling from the sky, and landing in or near the flames, which began to get smaller.

"What's going on?" Genis asked, as this weather made absolutely no sense.

"I'm not going to complain; the flames are being pushed back enough so that I can run in there without being roasted by my own power," Efreet said, suddenly behind the group.

"Where have you two been?" Lloyd asked, seeing that Celsius was with him.

"We were… busy," Celsius said, eyeing the sky, and the descending ice that fell from it.

"Alright, wish me luck!" Efreet said, and he ran right into the heart of the flames.

A few minutes passed, and the fire abruptly vanished. Everyone looked into the steam that had been created from the melted ice and snow, and saw a figure walking out. Efreet held the fragment of Xylek's sword in his hand, and it seemed to be feeding him the power that had been stolen from him. He was covered in soot.

"Aren't we lucky this thing works so well?" he said, holding up the shard. "It would have been problematic if my power were released into the air." As his power returned, though, his appearance didn't change.

"Is it not working?" Genis asked.

"No, I just happen to like having legs, it seems," he said with a small laugh, but Celsius interrupted.

"It's good that you've got your powers back, but I still do not," she said, still eyeing the sky.

"Well, why don't you just absorb them from the air, then?" Efreet responded.

"It's not working. My powers aren't just floating freely in the atmosphere."

"Wait, what?" Lloyd said, confused. "If you weren't the one suppressing the fire with those blocks of ice, how did they seem to aim for the fire?"

"I'm not sure, but I might have an idea. The ice-" she stopped when she saw the dome that had formed over Setsuna. "How did that get there?"

"It appeared when Setsuna was almost hit by a fireball that erupted from that inferno," Sheena said.

"It just 'appeared' of its own accord?" Celsius asked, still staring at the ice.

"It materialized very suddenly," Presea said. "Nobody here created it.

Efreet and Celsius looked at each other, each with a confused expression. Everyone walked over to the dome, and upon close inspection, saw that it was perfectly smooth, and that the fireball had done nothing to it. Lloyd poked it, and it was extremely solid. He eyed it closely, and saw a bright light in the center, which was getting brighter.

"I think we should back up," Regal said, and as everyone quickly moved away, the light got very bright and the dome exploded outwards. Setsuna stood in the middle, and it seemed she was at least able to stand again. She looked over to the group, and her eyes got big when she saw Efreet and Celsius.

"Okay, so it was you that made that dome, I assume?" Setsuna said, directing her question towards Celsius.

"It wasn't me."

Setsuna looked at her, unsure as to what she meant. Celsius walked over to her and said something in her ear. Setsuna fell down after hearing what she said. She quickly stood again, and ran off to another part of the small island.

"We need to follow her," Efreet said. Everyone ran after her.

Everyone found her digging in the snow, fervently looking for something. She grabbed something from the snow, and held it up, examining it. It was Xylek's helm. She set it down and continued digging. Eventually, she gave up and sat down. The look on her face wasn't one of irritation or confusion, but she even seemed deep in thought.

"Looks like you might be right, Celsius," Efreet said, and everyone gave him a confused look.

"Right about what?" Stacie asked.

"Well, we were arguing on our way here about the effects our powers could have on mortals, specifically what would happen to Xegros if he were killed without my powers being taken from him. I figured it would just be released into the air and cause havoc, but Celsius had a different idea."

"What was that idea?" Raine asked, intrigued.

"When a summon spirit is 'mortally wounded,' we simply return to the spirit world to regenerate, since we aren't mortal. I thought that maybe-"

She stopped talking when Setsuna began reciting. They had forgotten that Setsuna was also a summoner.

"By my right as a summoner, I call out to the spirit of ice. I summon thee, spirit!" she shouted, and the snow swirled around her. When it died down a little, they saw that she no longer stood alone; a new figure stood in front of her.

**Xylek: If you can't guess who that is, I have some news for you…**

**Tiger: Your hair color is probably blond**


End file.
